By Samantha Jones-
A teenager accused of murdering 19-year-old Kian Tordoff has admitted killing him after hearing voices. A second victim described being ‘dragged into’ the fatal attack.
The 17-year-old accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is standing trial for murder and attempted murder at Bradford Crown Court , alongside Arbaz Khan, Aizaz Khan, Amaad Shakiel, Mohammed Al Hussain, Adam Qayum.
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The six allegedly murdered Kian and attempted to murder Matthew Page – also known as Matthew Lowther – following a disturbance in Bradford city centre in the early hours of October 10 last year.
Horrified jurors were shown harrowing footage of the moment Kian was stabbed multiple times following the attack. They also saw further footage of the moment he collapsed on Rawson Square.
The court on Wednesday heard that a disturbance had started close to the Village nightclub just after 5am when Arbaz Khan, Amaad Shaiel, Adam Qayum and Mohammed Hussain were in a Seat Leon.
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Arbaz Khan was captured on CCTV making a gesture at someone after getting out of the car when a fight ensued. Following a fight, the four fled in the car and it was attacked and damaged by a number of people, including Kian, who had hit the windscreen with a bottle.
Prosecutor Mark McKone said that at 5.22am, Aizaz Khan and the teenager went to join the group and were driving a white BMW towards the city centre. They met with the other four defendants and at 5.27am “CCTV showed the BMW being followed by the Seat”.
Mr McKone said: “At some point, the four defendants from the Seat got into the BMW and they went back to the scene of the original trouble. After the Seat had driven away, the two victims started to walk away from the other but were not far away.”
The court heard that a woman who had witnessed the first disturbance had found a dropped phone belonging to one of the Khan’s and had arranged with the 17-year-old to return it, which she did. It was after that that Kian and Mr Page were attacked.
Mr McKone said CCTV footage showed the teenager getting out of the BMW and “chasing” Kian towards Rawson Square. He added that Abaz Khan was also seen chasing Kian with a machete while Hussain chased Mr Page.
“The prosecution say Kian is shown falling to the floor with the defendant [the teenager] stabbing him multiple times. He ran away and swung an object in the direction of Matthew Page. Hussain had an object in his hands. Aizaz Khan got out of the driver’s side and ran towards where the others were. Shakiel got out and remained by the BMW. The others ran back to the car which may be why he didn’t leave the area.”
The court was told the BMW then left the scene and was found abandoned on October 14 in Waterlily Road.
Mr McKone said: “The prosecution say it was a joint enterprise and to some extent it doesn’t matter who had a knife but it will be relevant for you to consider it. Two prosecution witnesses said they saw three men with a knife. The 17-year-old had two large knives and Abaz Khan had a large machete. Mr Hussain was seen on CCTV with an object in his hands and he doesn’t accept he had a knife.”
Impact Statement
In a victim impact statement, Mr Page said he had found himself “getting dragged into” the first incident and did not know any of the defendants who were there. He said: “I don’t know if any of the argument was anything to do with me, I don’t remember if I was fighting. The next thing I recall was walking as a car – possibly a BMW – that whoever was inside jumped out and running at and towards us. The next thing was feeling a jostling around my chest and I could see Kian holding his neck.”
The trial heard a video interview with Reanna Dacres, who grew up with Mr Tordoff in Holme Wood, conducted with police on October 10 last year. Mr McKone said Kian had suffered “some degree of blood loss” and had a stab wound of around 11cm to his back. The stabbing had cut his lung and aorta – the main artery that passes over the head
She said: “I went over and just saw Kian bleeding from his neck.
“I went over seen him (Mr Tordoff) on the floor, seen all the blood that was coming out of his neck, people trying to put pressure on it and he was trying to talk and say people’s names and stuff and he couldn’t talk.
“Matthew didn’t know he’d been stabbed at first, he was stood up, he lifted up his top and it was all cut. I was so shook I walked over to the bus stop. I was shaking.
“I’ve just seen someone swing a knife towards Matthew, I didn’t see anything happen to Kian, just saw him on the floor.
Blood Loss
Mr McKone said Kian had suffered “some degree of blood loss” and had a stab wound of around 11cm to his back. The stabbing had cut his lung and aorta – the main artery that passes over the head
The prosecutor said Kian had also suffered stab wounds to his neck and chest which were 4.5cm deep, and a stab wound over his hip as well as a Z-shaped stab wound to his right hand and a wound to his left upper arm. A toxicology report found he had taken cannabis, cocaine and had drunk alcohol.
Scientific evidence and cell site phone evidence that proved they were in the area at the time of the murder and attempted murder. Mr McKone told the court that only Shakiel had admitted in interview that he had been in the BMW – but all six now accept they were.
The prosecutor told the court the 17-year-old now admits he took two knives to the scene and admits the manslaughter of Kian – saying he stabbed him many times, and stabbed Mr Page. He denies murder by way of diminished responsibility. Mr McKone said: “His case is he was suffering from an abnormality of mental function which may have been an acute and psychotic episode which caused substantial impairment in order to make a rational judgement and self-control.”
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