BY JAMES SIMONS AND ERIC KING
The court heard today that the killing of Vinnie Hooligan happened after the Carl Froch v George Groves fight which the group watched the fight at the residence of a friend called Luke Pennington. Its is ironic that the boxer was killed right after watching an epic boxing fight, especially as his aspiration was to one day be a world champion.
So far, no motive has been provided for a premeditated killing, neither has any statements been presented to the court to suggest any malice between Erskin, the defendant, and the dead man or his friends. All we have is a 19 year old boxing prospect killed by a man driving a jeep who claims he felt intimidated enough by the presence of the boys, causing him to try and get away from the vicinity as quickly as possible but unfortunately killing one of the boys in the process whilst thinking he had only ”clipped” his leg.
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The defendant, Erskin, told the court the Jeep he was driving had been borrowed from a friend who was travelling the next day. He said he dropped his friend at home first before setting out along Parkway unto North Perimeter Road towards Buckley Hill towards a shell garage. He recounts forgetting his purse at home thereby forcing him to go back for it
CORNERED BY TWO FOC– — USES
While returning to his home address he claims to have come across the two Ford Focus’s in Waterside, one of which was dark blue or grey. He could see two people in one of the vehicles, and one person in the other. He then flashed his headlights to get one of the vehicles to move, but strangely the vehicles refused to get out of the way. The defendant then says he reversed back onto Northern Perimeter Road but one of the Focus cars shot out of Waterside and turned left whilst the other turned right. The defendant describes a trap like scenario that depicts a man on the grass on the left and a car on the wrong side of Perimeter Road on his right Erskine then says he saw one of the male passengers with a balloon in his mouth, and as the other focus pulled out fast, a male jumped out of it and stood in the way of the Jeep he was driving.
“I didn’t know what was going on, or anything at all, then I thought it was a bit strange about the lad with a balloon in front of his face, Erskin told the court.
“Then I saw them in front of me, then it clicked, I thought they are going to do something with the pole”.wrong side of Northern Perimeter Road on his right from which two men got out and crossed over the road. One had a pole. The door of the vehicle was left wide-open.
“They have been chasing me with the pole, so I carried on straight,” he says.
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The defendant who admitted knowing the dead man, said he did not know him well and was unaware he was in the car at the time and had no previous grudge against him. He said went to school with Vinnie’s brother and believed he had come across the vehicle by random chance, but recognised the man with the pole as Elliott Bennett- the friend of the dead man who had initially lied to police before changing his statement. According to the defendant, Benett raised the pole as Erskine drove closer to the group.
A test carried out by police on the dead man-Vinnie Hooligan- revealed the consumption of Cocaine, Cannabis and a blood alcohol reading of 100mg- referred to as mild intoxication and slightly above the legal limit. The prosecution case was concluded, and the case is to be resumed on Tuesday after the bank holiday
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