Court hears 16-year-old from Gloucester stabbed by rival teens
Ramarni Crosby died in December 2021 after suffering multiple stab wounds
Last updated 19th Apr 2023
A 16-year-old from Gloucester was stabbed to death after being confronted by rival teenagers armed with an assortment of bladed weapons, a Bristol Crown Court has been told.
Ramarni Crosby was repeatedly knifed when allegedly attacked by eight youths carrying a machete, meat cleaver and knives.
The youngster and his four friends ran off - but he slowed and collapsed in Stratton Road, where he died of his injuries, CCTV footage from properties in the Barton area of the city showed.
Dean Smith, 20, Levi Cameron, 18, Callum Charles-Quebella, 18, three 17-year-olds and two 16-year-olds are accused of murdering the teenager on December 15 2021.
Prosecutor Adam Vaitilingam KC told the jury: "The background to the stabbing was an ongoing rivalry between two Gloucester groups.
"In particular, there was a fight that had taken place about a week earlier involving one of these defendants and one of Ramarni's friends.
"That fight hadn't settled anything - there were still grievances bubbling away between them and more violence was very much on the cards.
"On the day of the killing, the two who had had the fight were in contact with each other again, in contact by phone, and arranging to meet in Gloucester."
Mr Vaitilingam told the jury the defendants' group totalled eight and Ramarni's friends numbered five.
The defendants were part of a gang called GL1 and would wear purple bandanas as a sign of membership, the court was told.
Mr Vaitilingam said none of the eight defendants were arrested at the scene - allowing them to dispose of mobile phones and weapons, including two knives, a machete and meat cleaver.
Telephone and social media conversations between some of the defendants were recovered and included references to buying a "chef" - a knife - in the days before Ramarni's death, jurors heard.
Smith, of Lannett Road; Cameron, of Stanway Road; and Charles-Quebella, of Midland Road, all Gloucester; and their five co-accused deny murder.
A ninth defendant, Keishaleigh Margrett-Whitter, 20, of Lyncroft Road, Tyseley, Birmingham, denies two charges of assisting an offender.
She allegedly gave two defendants a change of clothing, allowed them to use her mobile phone, swapped sim cards and organised taxis.
The trial continues.