Islington moped teen stabbing murder trial at Old Bailey

Prosecutors at the Old Bailey allege 22-year-old Francie McCarthy fatally stabbed 16-year-old Deonte Mowatt-Slater in Islington before the teenager crashed his moped, with jurors shown witness accounts and CCTV said to capture the aftermath of the confrontation.

A murder trial at the Old Bailey has heard how a teenager who crashed his moped into a lamppost in north London had in fact been fatally stabbed moments earlier. Sixteen-year-old Deonte Mowatt-Slater was found collapsed in Courtauld Road, Islington, shortly after midnight on 22 October last year and was pronounced dead at 01:16 despite extensive efforts by paramedics.

Jurors were told that Deonte had suffered two stab wounds, one to the chest and a second to the front of his neck, injuries described by the prosecution as immediately life-threatening. It is alleged that 22-year-old Francie McCarthy, of Islington, crossed paths with the teenager and during a confrontation inflicted the fatal blows before the victim attempted to ride away on his moped, only to crash yards from the scene. McCarthy denies a single count of murder.

Prosecutor Edward Brown KC told the court that police and ambulance crews were initially dispatched to what was believed to be a road traffic collision involving a youth on a moped. On arrival, officers discovered the victim had sustained injuries inconsistent with a crash. “Deonte had plainly been very badly injured – somehow,” Mr Brown said, adding that the stab wounds were quickly identified once medical staff assessed him at the roadside.

Read more: UK Terror Threat Raised to Severe Following London Attack

The court heard evidence from a witness, Rose Galugbo, who had just returned home when she heard the sound of a revving engine followed by a loud crash. On investigating, she discovered the teenager lying on the ground and assumed at first he had simply lost control of the moped. Another resident, Nel Richards, told jurors she had heard two males shouting in the street before the crash and from her window saw a figure in grey jogging bottoms running away.

CCTV footage played in court captured the sound of a moped accelerating down the road at speed, followed by a bang and a voice shouting “Come here!” Moments later, a man in grey jogging bottoms was seen running in the direction of the moped, which the prosecution alleges was McCarthy in pursuit of the teenager.