James Brindley 'tried to calm things' before he was stabbed to death, murder trial hears

James Brindley looked to be backing away as he made the gesture in the ‘scuffle’ at the entrance to The Croft park in Little Aston Road, Aldridge, last June, said the 16-year-old.

The teenager was with three friends as they were being ferried from a school prom at Bescot Stadium to an after-party in Aldridge when they came across the scene.

Giving evidence at Birmingham Crown Court, the teenager said he saw a smartly dressed man with a phone in his hand, believed to be 26-year-old Mr Brindley, step backwards with his other arm at chest level, palm facing towards his alleged attackers ‘as if to calm things’, he said.

“I had the window down and could hear shouting, it looked like they were making advances towards the smartly dressed man,” he added.

He said the stockier of the two assailants shouted ‘Come on then’ in an aggressive tone, ‘as though calling him into a fight’, he said.

Although the pupil did not see any physical contact during the five to seven second snapshot of the attack, he glanced back to see Mr Brindley running towards the High Street where he would collapse and die.

Fight

The driver of the Mitsubishi, in which the teenager was a passenger, was also drawn to what he described as ‘a tussle’ with a lot of ‘pushing and shoving’ going on.

Mark Westwood, the father of one of the boys, said he saw three people fighting near the bus stop at the entrance to the park as he turned into the road.

He also saw one of them lash out with his leg in a ‘Kung-Fu-style’ kick but could not be sure which one. He told the jury he slowed his vehicle down and beeped the horn, prompting one of them to look up for a split-second before returning to the fray.

The 16-year-old said he knew Mr Brindley was carrying a phone in his hand because he could see the light from the screen.

The court heard earlier how the murder victim had been on the phone to his girlfriend Lauren Wong when the attack happened.

He told her he had been stabbed and was phoning an ambulance.

Meanwhile she desperately tried to reach him via WhatsApp, messaging him four times: “Please tell me you’re okay. You need me to phone your parents? I’m scared to phone back. Have you phoned an ambulance?”

When Manchester-based Ms Wong rang back, a passer-by answered, telling her Mr Brindley had been stabbed. She immediately alerted his parents who lived about 400 yards from the spot where he fell.

Aaron Kahrod, aged 21, of Walsall Road, Aldridge, and a 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, deny murder.

The trial continues.