Neck chain feud led to murder of Sheffield dad

The feud which led to the murder of Sheffield dad Grant Bodell was sparked after a neck chain was taken, a court heard.
Father-of-two Grant Bodell,  Windy House Lane, Manor, was found dead on June 21, 2014Father-of-two Grant Bodell,  Windy House Lane, Manor, was found dead on June 21, 2014
Father-of-two Grant Bodell, Windy House Lane, Manor, was found dead on June 21, 2014

Father-of-two Grant Bodell, aged 23, was killed in a shooting on Manor Fields Park in the early hours of June 2014, after he became wrongly implicated in the feud, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Marvis Smith, aged 30, of Park Grange Road, Norfolk Park, Torrington Smith, 26, of Samuel Close, Norfolk Park, Stevin Pierre, 24, of Waterslacks Close, Woodhouse, and Brendon McFarlane, 22, of Hyde Park Terrace, Park Hill, are all charged with his murder. The court heard yesterday that the friends Mr Bodell had been drinking with prior to his death – brothers Corrie and Christopher Allen – had a feud with the Smith brothers and their associates.

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Corrie Allen told the court: “We’d got problems. It had been ongoing. I got my chain took and something of theirs went missing. So that’s what started it all.”

The jury previously heard Marvis Smith headed-up a gang which sold drugs.

Yesterday, the court heard associates of Smith had been drinking in Manor Top prior to the shooting, as had the Allen brothers and Mr Bodell.

Things came to a head when some of Smith’s associates drove into the car park of the Embassy Club, in Mansfield Road, which was a hang-out of the Allen brothers.

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Mr Allen told the court he recognised three cars which had pulled into the car park as belonging to associates of Marvis Smith.

He said himself, Mr Bodell and his brother caught a taxi to the Manor after they had seen the cars.

When Adrian Waterman, prosecuting, asked what he went to the Manor for, Mr Allen said: “To get a gun.”

Mr Allen, who will continue his evidence today, said they returned to the Embassy Club upon getting the gun.

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CCTV footage from the club showed Corrie Allen approach associates of Smith with a shotgun in his hand, before firing it in the car park.

Mr Allen, who is currently serving a prison sentence in relation to the offence, said he returned to Manor Fields Park after the shooting to hide the gun, accompanied by his brother and Mr Bodell.

He said the three then bought alcohol from an off-licence, before pouring some drinks at his mother’s house nearby.

He said they then walked through Manor Fields Park to an address to buy cocaine.

Upon purchasing the drugs, they then walked back through the park.

All four defendants deny murder. The trial continues.