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Abstract

Three “zombie killer” knives – the kind used in the stabbing of Canonbury teenager Stefan Appleton last year – were recovered in the area in the weeks after the death, a court has heard.

The shocking revelation, showing the extent to which the 63cm machete-type blade is used by youth gangs, was made by the prosecution this week at an Old Bailey murder trial.

The Crown alleges Stefan, 17, who lived on the Marquess estate, was killed with such a knife by a member of the Red Pitch Gang on a sunny day in Nightingale Park on June 10.

On Wednesday, Jocelyn Ledward, for the prosecution, told the jury that nine knives had been recovered from the area by police or found by members of the public in the weeks following the stabbing.

They included a machete in New River Walk, Canonbury, an 18in knife at a Hackney address and three “zombie killer” knives in different places in Hackney, close to the Islington border. The weapon with which Stefan was killed was never recovered, the court heard.

Two 17-year-old boys are accused of his murder and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm, alongside a 16-year-old boy charged only with the lesser offence.

The prosecution alleg­es that the three are affiliated to Red Pitch, a Dalston-based gang that is in conflict with another gang known as Halton Mansions, or Essex Road, in Canonbury.

On Wednesday, the jury also heard how the two 17-year-olds set about destroying evidence linking them to the crime. Following the killing, they left the stolen moped they used to travel to Nightingale Park in a quiet road and arranged for others to burn it, the court heard.

They then contacted one of their friends, a girl in Holloway. She told police in a statement in August that the pair contacted her hours after Stefan died, asking if they could come to her house.

The prosecuting barrister said the girl told police that when they arrived, the pair “were not their normal selves and seemed agitated” but refused to tell her why. She said they asked her to let them out of the back of the block so they could burn some clothes they had in a bin bag.

She was also given a crash helmet and asked to keep it.

Edward Denison QC, for the prosecution, read out a statement by another witness, a man living in the same block, who said he saw two youths by a fire in the bushes near the railway tracks behind Hornsey Street.

Mr Denison said: “He saw [the defendant] squeeze through the railings and he could see that at his waist he had a large knife. He said it was like a Rambo knife. It could’ve been a machete.”

After burning the clothes, the pair travelled to Bristol by cab to a relative of one of the defendants, the jury heard. They tried to book flights to Malaga but were unsuccessful, and return­ed to London two days later.

They were arrested days later at different hide-out addresses, the court heard, and interviewed under caution in the presence of their mothers.

The 16-year-old fled to Ipswich on hearing that one of the others had been arrested, the court heard. He was arrested in the Suffolk town on June 17.

Members of Stefan’s family listened to the evidence in court, while the three defendants sat in the dock flanked by guards, showing no emotion.

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