Colchester murder trial: All we know as trial gets underway

Alinjavwa Siwale, 22, was stabbed and died in the kitchen of his Colchester home while his younger brother Suwi frantically cried out for help.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Phoenix Lee, 19, and Sheldon McKay, 25, carried out a swift attack “lasting less than two minutes” on December 11 last year.

The prosecution alleges Lee and McKay were the aggressors, while the pair’s defence barristers say they acted in self-defence after Lee was attacked by Alinjavwa.

The jury were played CCTV footage capturing the front of the house the Siwale brothers shared in Affleck Road, on Colchester’s Greenstead estate.

Lee and McKay do not dispute the footage shows the pair approach the front of the house.

A figure, the prosecution says is Lee, takes a short run up before kicking in the front door.

The court heard the door was unsecure after a police raid on the house weeks earlier.

The brothers had attempted to barricade the door with two boxes containing trampolines and a kitchen table top.

A next door neighbour reported being awoken shortly after midnight to the sound of “banging and scuffling” coming from the property.

The court heard the mother-of-four found the sound “alarming enough for her to jump out of bed”.

At about 12.14am, she heard yelling and screaming which she recognised as the voice of one of the brothers who lived next door.

Looking out of her bedroom window, she saw Suwi climbing over her fence, before running across her garden shouting for help.

Murder trial: The scene following the stabbing in Affleck Road, Greenstead

The neighbour rushed downstairs to the back door and found Suwi “frantic and heavily blood stained”.

A call was made to the ambulance service and Suwi made a desperate plea for the neighbour to save his brother.

When the neighbour noticed police cars approaching, she felt safe enough to enter the property, where she found Alinjavwa lying on his back with a wound she described as “two slash injuries to his chest”.

Police followed her inside and Alinjavwa was pronounced dead at 12.35am.

In his hand police found a portion of a blade wrapped in a sock to form a makeshift handle.

The court heard a hilted combat knife and sheath were found inside the property.

The blade was covered in Alinjavwa’s blood, and the prosecution say the DNA of Lee and Lee’s girlfriend was found on the handle.

Jane Bickerstaff QC, prosecuting, said: “The evidence would suggest Mr Lee and Mr McKay entered [the address] with force at 12.12am that night, with Mr Lee going inside first and armed with that combat knife.

“It is not suggested [Lee’s girlfriend] was present. The significance of the fact she had clearly touched the knife sheath and knife handle at some earlier stage, or her DNA had been transferred onto it, is proof that knife was taken into the premises by Phoenix Lee.”

In the hours after the stabbing, the prosecution say McKay headed to a friend’s address in Teal Close alongside Lee.

The police were called after an occupant heard noises at the back door.

A police officer arrived at the home after 3am and found McKay outside. McKay had bloodstains on the right sleeve of his grey top.

The officer noticed another man in the garden, but when he asked the man to give himself up, he fled.

The officer noted the second man had blood on his clothes and face.

The prosecution say this man was Lee. McKay was arrested and gave no comment in police interview.

Lee handed himself in at Colchester Police Station on December 13, but his clothing and footwear have never been recovered. He also answered no comment to all questions asked.

The pair are expected to say they acted in self defence.

Ms Bickerstaff said: “The Crown say these two defendants acted together in a joint enterprise attack.

“Once inside the property they acted swiftly in that short window of time.

“Alinjavwa Siwale was fatally stabbed and was also slashed and stabbed a number of times.”

She added: “The evidence would suggest that Mr Lee provided that weapon which was if not the murder weapon, one of the murder weapons.

“Although that knife was recovered in the premises, the Crown does not exclude Mr McKay was armed with a second weapon which was never recovered.”

She said: “Mr McKay, we do know, was heavily covered in the victim’s blood.

“The Crown cannot say whether one or the other or both of the defendants was the inflictor of the fatal wound and or other fatal injuries.

“What we can say is the timing and location and the speed of the incident, the extent and the severity of the injuries, the additional wound caused to Suwi, are not consistent with any act of reasonable self defence.”

Lee and McKay, of no fixed address, deny murder and causing grievous bodily harm.

During a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, barristers representing the pair put questions to Alinjavwa’s brother, Suwi, who was present in the house at the time of the stabbing.

Giles Cockings QC suggested Phoenix Lee and McKay had arrived at the brothers’ house in Affleck Road, Greenstead, to speak with them.

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He asked Suwi if he and his brother had become paranoid they had been “snitched upon” following a police raid.

Mr Cockings suggested after he was refused entry, Lee kicked in the door and met Alinjavwa on the stairway of the house.

He took the jury to Suwi’s first of four interviews with the police, where he said he thought intruders had tried coming up the stairs, before adding: “I was throwing stuff to try and back them off”.

Mr Cockings said: “I suggest your brother lashed out at Phoenix Lee, who was coming up the stairs, and he did so with a knife in his hand, did you see your brother lash out?”

Mr Cockings suggested Alinjavwa struck Lee in the face whilst holding a knife, before Lee fell down the stairs.

He said while Alinjavwa “towered over” Lee, McKay stepped in to defend him.

He suggested McKay picked up a hunting knife dropped by Alinjavwa and the pair fought, first in the hall and then in the kitchen, where the fatal blows were delivered.

Mr Cockings suggested to Suwi that Lee and Lee’s girlfriend had previously attended a party at the house and that the pair’s DNA could have been transferred to the knife on that occasion.

Mr Cockings took Alinjavwa’s brother Suwi and the jury through the pair’s list of previous convictions.

He said Alinjavwa was convicted in May 2016 of two offences of possession with intent to supply heroin and crack cocaine and possession of a stun gun.

He said: “Over and above the incident with the drugs and the stun gun, there was another occasion on April 9, 2016, where he and another man chased and attacked an unarmed man in the street, punching and kicking him in the face, were you aware of that?

“Your brother on that occasion pulled the victim’s trousers and pants down and demanded cash or drugs, do you remember that?

“The man tried to run away, but your brother chased him, stabbed him twice, once in the back causing a punctured lung and once in the hip or thigh, that’s correct isn’t it?

“I suggest you know about it, because your brother was convicted of GBH and received a significant prison sentence, so you must have been aware of it because he wasn’t around for a bit.

“I suggest your brother was a violent drug dealer, who was prepared to use weapons on others, including knives.”

He asked Suwi about his own convictions, which include being concerned in the supply of cannabis in November 2020 and a conviction for possession of a knife in April this year.

He said the pair had signed a criminal behaviour order prohibiting them from having children at the property.

He said: “The fact is, wouldn’t you agree, you and your brother were running a drugs business using young children as workers and suppliers?

“Further, that you and your brother were not only familiar with the drugs world, but you had tried to make a name for yourselves in the drug supply business, that’s right isn’t it?”

Jason Bartfeld QC, defending McKay, put to Suwi there was no evidence to suggest the brothers knew his client at all.

He added: “If you and your brother were not the aggressors in this event, give this jury one reason why you wont come into that witness box, or even over this videolink, and give that evidence.”

As with all other questions put in cross-examination, Suwi answered: “No comment.”

Mr Bartfeld said: “The only good reason is you don’t want the truth to be exposed, isn’t it?”

He suggested McKay had defended himself and Lee with a knife he had picked up.

• The trial continues.