Carl Dixon: 'All I wanted to do was split up the fight,' Barnsley murder accused tells jury

One of the two defendants accused of murdering a Barnsley man says he was present at the time of the fatal attack but denies being responsible for inflicting stab wounds, claiming his role only extended to efforts to 'break up the fight'.

35-year-old Carl Dixon was 'stabbed to death' during an altercation that took place at a property on George Street in the Barnsley village of Worsbrough, between 11.08pm and 11.20pm on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, prosecutors allege. 

25-year-old Liam Shaw, of no fixed abode, and 26-year-old Daniel Cheetham, of Underwood Avenue, Worsbrough Dale, Barnsley, are currently on trial at Sheffield Crown Court accused of Mr Dixon’s murder, a charge both defendants deny. 

Following a post-mortem examination, pathologist Dr Charles Wilson concluded Mr Dixon’s cause of death was 'multiple stab wounds'. The jury have previously been told Mr Dixon suffered a total of seven stab wounds.

Both defendants are also accused of, and have pleaded not guilty to, an additional charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm allegedly carried out during the same incident, and relating to injuries reportedly suffered by Catherine Watkinson, whose George Street home is said to have been the scene of the fatal stabbing.

Prosecutor, Nicholas Campbell KC, has previously told the jury of seven women and five men it is the Crown’s case that while it 'would appear that only one person actually wielded the knife, the prosecution case is that this was a joint attack by two men, those two men in the dock'. 

"On the available evidence, only one of the two was using the knife that caused Mr Dixon’s death, and according to Darren Woodhouse that person appears to have been Mr Cheetham…however, providing you are sure they were acting together, you don’t need be sure about which one it was who actually used the knife.

"The prosecution case is that they were acting together throughout the violence that took place inside the address, and they continued to act together throughout the 15 hours that had passed between the murder and their arrest," Mr Campbell said.

Mr Woodhouse is an eye witness, whose statements have previously been used as part of the prosecution case.

This assertion was denied by Mr Cheetham when he gave evidence yesterday afternoon (Wednesday, March 20, 2024).

Dressed in a blue, button-down shirt and black trousers, Mr Cheetham told the jury that his involvement in the violence extended to him trying to 'pull' Mr Dixon off Mr Shaw, or 'push him away'; and using a pair of garden shears on Mr Dixon when he failed to 'respond to any of my commands, any of my actions to try and stop this fight'.

Mr Cheetham denied using a knife, stabbing Mr Dixon or seeking to cause him 'really serious harm' at any point.

'I didn't really want to cause him damage...all I really wanted to do was split up the fight'

Representing Mr Cheetham, Mark McKone KC, referring to his client's use of the garden shears, asked him: "How hard did you hit Carl?"

Mr Cheetham responded: "Not as hard as I could...not really soft, not really hard either, probably in between."

Mr Cheetham, who was wearing rosary beads around his neck as he gave evidence, said he hit Mr Dixon with the 'flat side' of the shears, and hit him to his shoulder.

"Why didn't you hit him as hard as you could," Mr McKone said.

Mr Cheetham replied: "I didn't really want to cause him damage, or anything like that. All I really wanted to do was split up the fight."

Mr McKone asked: "Why did you hit Carl with the shears," to which Mr Cheetham replied: "Because I felt like he had gone too far, and I felt like my friend was going to get really hurt that night."

Mr Cheetham, who admitted to taking a number of drugs including crack cocaine, ketamine, diazepam, pregabalin and cannabis in the hours prior to the fatal incident, said he and Mr Shaw, his co-accused, had been friends since childhood.

He claimed to have found the garden shears on the floor, around 'one metre' away from where he was stood in the kitchen, and that his intention when using the shears was to 'break up the fight, nothing else'.

'I saw Liam was using either a stabbing or a punching motion towards Carl's body'

Mr Cheetham told jurors that Mr Dixon did not stop fighting when he hit him with the garden shears, adding: "Carl got to his feet...and that's when he started throwing punches, trying to get him, trying to get Liam."

He claimed at this point he still had the shears in his hand but 'dodged' out of the way because he 'didn't want to get hit by the punches,' adding that he did not hit Mr Dixon with the shears again because he 'didn't want to cause him damage'.

"All I wanted to do is make him stop fighting," Mr Cheetham said.

Describing what he saw Mr Shaw do next, Mr Cheetham said he saw Mr Shaw go into the kitchen and 'grab something' from the sink area but told jurors he did not 'exactly' see what the item was.

"I saw Liam was using either a stabbing or a punching motion towards Carl's body," Mr Cheetham said, before clarifying that the relevant part of Mr Dixon's body was the 'front' part of his 'torso'.

"How many times," asked Mr McKone. "Five times," replied Mr Cheetham.

Mr McKone continued: "What was Carl doing while this was happening?"

Mr Cheetham replied: "Still fighting back."

"What did you think, at the time, Liam was doing," Mr McKone said, to which Mr Cheetham replied: "I wasn't too sure to be honest, I just thought there was still fighting going on." He said he did not know Carl was being stabbed while he was still present in the property.

Mr Cheetham said the violence came to an end when he and Mr Shaw left the property, which they chose to do because things had 'kicked off' and he 'didn't want anything to do with it'.

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Stabbing victim was 'very intoxicated, aggressive,' claims murder accused

Mr Cheetham told jurors that he had met Ms Watkinson for the first time earlier that day, and when he visited her property, along with Mr Shaw, on the evening of the fatal incident he was taking her up on her offer to use her property to 'have a smoke'. He said 'drug habits' was the thing they had in common, when asked.

He said that when he and Mr Shaw got to the property, Mr Dixon - someone he 'knew of' but had never had any problems with - was 'very intoxicated, aggressive'.

Mr McKone asked: "In what way was Carl aggressive?"

Mr Cheetham responded: "Threatening me and Liam, telling us to get the f**k out of the house and saying: 'Who the f**k do you think you are. Do you know who I am, I'm from Pitsmoor'."

He claimed Mr Dixon and Ms Watkinson had been arguing about a missing packet of pregabalin, which belonged to Ms Watkinson, shortly after he and Mr Shaw arrived at the property.

"Did you confront or threaten Mr Dixon," asked McKone said. Mr Cheetham responded: "We didn't threaten him. We said: 'Give them back, it's not fair, she'll be rattling in a couple of hours' because they help with heroin addiction."

Mr Cheetham said it was after this exchange that Mr Dixon began 'throwing punches' and the violence began.

Mr McKone asked: "Did you ever pick up a knife."

"No, definitely not," answered Mr Cheetham.

"Did you stab Carl...did you ever kick Carl," asked Mr McKone.

"No, definitely not," Mr Cheetham said in response to both questions.

"Was there ever a moment when you intended to cause Carl really serious harm," asked Mr McKone, to which Mr Cheetham responded: "No, definitely not."

Mr Shaw and Mr Cheetham both deny one charge of murder, and one charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. 

The trial continues.