Boy, 16, stabbed to death by drug dealer who tried to rob him, court told

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A 16-year-old boy was stabbed in the neck and killed by a balaclava-clad drug dealer who set out to rob him as he was “selling on his patch”, a court heard.

Andy Wood was killed by a single stab wound which penetrated his neck by 7.5cm, cutting his jugular vein and causing “uncontrollable bleeding”, said prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC.

The barrister described the blow as being “delivered with force and intent”.

He said that Mr Wood collapsed not far from where he was stabbed in Waterson Vale in Chelmsford, Essex, on the night of February 12 last year, and later died.

Mr Paxton told Chelmsford Crown Court that 19-year-old Elijah Clark, who denies Mr Wood’s murder, fled the scene taking the “military style” knife he used with him and disposing of it.

He said Clark, who was arrested at his home address “within an hour or so of that murder”, has not revealed where the knife is.

The prosecutor said Clark had arranged to buy drugs from Mr Wood then turned up wearing a balaclava and armed with a knife.

“This was about the defendant, Mr Clark, setting out to rob Andy Wood and demonstrate his authority and he did so we suggest, to use his words, with a Rambo tucked,” said Mr Paxton.

He said Clark saw Mr Wood as an “interloper” who “turned up selling on his patch”.

Mr Paxton said that during the incident, Clark said to a friend of Mr Wood who was also present “do you know who I am?”

“We suggest (Clark) saw himself as something of a drug dealer with a status and a standing he was keen to record,” said Mr Paxton.

“That may well be why when Andy Wood turned up – sending out his marketing deal drug messages – the defendant went out with, as he calls it, his Rambo tucked, to rob Andy Wood of the drugs and to teach him a lesson.”

He said Clark had previously been caught in possession of a machete at Northolt station in London in June 2022.

The barrister said Mr Wood had been described as a “bit of a hippy who loved skateboarding”.

Mr Paxton said Clark is expected to say he was acting in self-defence.

Clark, of Gloucester Avenue, Chelmsford, denies murder.

He also denies an alternative charge of manslaughter, and he denies having a bladed article and the assault occasioning actual bodily harm of Mr Wood’s friend.

The trial continues.