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A Canonbury teenager was murdered with a machete-type knife by teenagers locked in a turf war with a gang based in his neighbourhood, a court has heard.

Marquess estate resident Stefan Appleton, 17, was killed by a youth wielding a large “zombie killer” knife on a sunny day in June last year in nearby Nightingale Park, as children played on swings and others played football.

On Tuesday two 17-year-old boys went on trial at the Old Bailey for his murder and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm, alongside a 16-year-old boy charged only with the lesser offence.

Opening the case for the Crown, prosecuting barrister Simon Denison QC said of the murder: “Another tragic waste of a young life in this city taken by a knife.

“But this wasn’t the sort of small kitchen knife that is so often foolishly carried by young people. It is called a zombie killer, a very big knife, like a machete, and in the wrong hands it was a deadly weapon.”

The court heard that on June 10, Stefan was in the park with friends playing “pound up”, a game which involves throwing coins against a wall. As Stefan spent time with his pals, the two 17-year-olds left Kerridge Court estate in Dalston and drove to Nightingale Park on a stolen Piaggo moped.

As they reached the park, the pillion passenger jumped off, pulled out a “big, machete-type knife”, ran towards Stefan and his friends, and went after the victim.

As Stefan tried to run away, Mr Denison said, he tripped over a low fence, with his balaclava-clad and hooded assailant right behind him.

“Stefan lay helplessly on the ground as [defendant] stabbed him repeatedly,” the barrister told the jury.

“One of the blows cut his right shin, as Stefan kicked out to defend himself. One penetrated the left side of his chest, passed through his lung, and into his heart.”


He added: “As they went, [the stabber] was heard to shout ‘RP’ – that stands for Red Pitch, the name of a gang that is in conflict with a gang [Halton Mansions, also known as Essex Road] in the Nightingale Park area.”

Stefan was able to get up and run away and, while his attackers fled on the moped, he collapsed. Paramedics tried to save him but he was pronounced dead hours later.

Mr Denison said Stefan’s murder should be understood in the context of gang tensions in the area in which he lived.

The 16-year-old defendant in the case, who is alleged to have sold the stolen moped to the other two, while not directly involved in the murder, was associated with Red Pitch and was party to the plan to go to Nightingale Park and stab someone. The court heard he himself had been stabbed in the hands and buttocks two months earlier, just around the corner from where Stefan died. He told police he had been walking through the Marquess estate when he was chased from the area by a group of youths.

The stabbing, Mr Denison went on, is “very much connected” with Stefan’s murder.

“There has been an ongoing rivalry between Halton Mansions and Red Pitch, and the stabbing of [16-year-old defendant] in April, and the stabbing of Stefan Appleton in June, should be seen in that context,” he added.

While the knife was never recovered, jurors were shown the 63cm-long type of weapon used to kill Stefan, which is serrated by the top of the blade. A woman sat in the public gallery burst into tears as Mr Denison held up the knife. He said: “Imagine using that as a weapon, carrying it as weapon. Imagine striking down hard at another human being with something like that. It almost defies belief, doesn’t it?”

The court heard that, following the murder, the two 17-year-olds left the moped in a quiet road and arranged for others to burn it. They burnt the clothes they had been wearing and left a helmet that would not catch fire with a friend. The pair fled to Bristol and tried to book flights to Malaga, but did not succeed in doing so. They returned to London two days later. Each was arrested within days at different hide-out addresses, Mr Denison said.

Members of Stefan’s family listened to the evidence in court, while 29 others, mostly teenagers, looked on from the public gallery.

All three defendants deny conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm with intent. The two 17-year-olds deny murder.

The trial continues and is expected to last four weeks.