A JURY has retired to begin determining the fate of Luke Jones, accused of murder over the home invasion stabbing death of small-time cannabis dealer Philip Steele at Whitebridge in 2018.
Mr Jones, now 25, of Gateshead, has pleaded not guilty to murder over the death of Mr Steele and the four-day trial has focused on what happened inside Mr Steele's home when Mr Jones, Jeremy Garvey - who was armed with a 40-centimetre machete - and another man armed with a baseball bat broke in about 2.30am on December 17, 2018.
The prosecution claims Mr Jones is guilty of murder by reason of extended joint criminal enterprise, with Crown prosecutor Paul Rosser, QC, telling the jury Mr Jones must have foresaw the possibility that Garvey would use the large machete and cause the 60-year-old Mr Steele serious injury.
During his closing address on Wednesday, defence barrister Philip Massey told the jury they could not be satisfied that Mr Jones knew Garvey had the machete.
And Mr Massey suggested to the jury that Mr Jones was the third of the three men to enter the house through a window and the first out.
"Because he saw what was going on and took off," Mr Massey said. "In other words, when he became aware of what was going on... you can't disengage yourself from a joint criminal enterprise by not continuing it more emphatically than leaving. "You'd have to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that he remained [in the house during the stabbing]. "My submission to you is that you couldn't be satisfied that this accused contemplated that Garvey would use that weapon with the intention of causing really serious injury and therefore you would find him not guilty of murder."
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