A murder trial over the death of a young rapper shot dead in Liverpool collapsed today over coronavirus fears.
Miguel 'Migz' Reynolds, aka Lil Gwop Boy, was allegedly lured from Manchester to Liverpool to buy a stolen Audi S1.
The 21-year-old, from Moss Side, and a friend, who cannot be named for legal reasons, drove to Netherton on June 7, 2018.
They were allegedly met by a gang, who robbed them at gunpoint of £2,000, and told them to leave "in no uncertain terms".
However, prosecutors said "sadly and tragically, Miguel Reynolds decided he wasn't simply going to go back to Manchester".
They said he grabbed a lock knife from his car and chased after Liam Watson, 31, who is accused of firing a warning shot.
Ian Unsworth, QC, prosecuting, told jurors Miguel caught Watson in a communal garden, who turned and shot him in the neck.
He said it was an "execution" witnessed by an OAP mopping her porch and Miguel died in hospital, three days before his 22nd birthday.
Watson stood trial with six other men: Kyle Sanders, Joseph McKeever, Paul Blackhurst, James Harrison, Jake Mawhinney and Dale Avery.
They all deny murder, conspiracy to rob, possessing a prohibited firearm, and possessing prohibited ammunition at Liverpool Crown Court.
They were joined by Avery's girlfriend, Emma Kirby, who denies assisting an offender, during a 10-week trial, which began on January 20.
The 12-strong jury was sent out last Tuesday and had already been considering its verdicts for 12 hours and 19 minutes.
But one juror did not attend court today, having entered into self-isolation as a result of reported coronavirus-like coughing and flu symptoms.
Due to a fear of cross-infection, and having consulted with the remaining jurors and counsel, High Court judge Mr Justice Sweeney discharged the jury "with a heavy heart".
Thanking jurors for their efforts, the judge said: "Frustrating though it all is, it would not be right in the position that we're now confronted with for me to ask you to carry on."
He added: "I understand only too well how disappointing it will be for the families of the two victims and for the defendants after such a long time but sometimes the fact there is no choice but to act in a certain way just has to be faced."
After the jury left court, Justice Sweeney told defence lawyers he understood it would be "disaster" for their clients and "frustrating in the extreme", and said he was sorry they could not be produced in the dock to be informed of the development, "given all the cross infection problems" involved.
The judge, who asked for the entire court to be cleaned before discharging the jury, added that he understood how difficult it would be for the victim's family.
He said: "I will hope please you will make clear to them how sorry and sympathetic I am, but the realities just have to be faced."
Justice Sweeney said it was too early to fix a retrial "because it's too much like guesswork", but he hoped to do so by the end of the week.
During the trial, Mr Unsworth said Miguel's "life was cut short" by men who "ruthlessly plotted to rob him, threatening him with a firearm".
He said: "When he gave chase, he was shown no mercy and he was shot dead at close range."
Prosecutors alleged Sanders, 21, set up the robbery by contacting Cameron Russell, a man he had previously met in prison.
Sanders accepted phoning Russell, "the bridge" between the Liverpool lads and the "Manny kids", to arrange Miguel coming over to buy the stolen car.
He claimed a stranger offered him the Audi for £1,800, and he would sell it for £2,000, not knowing of any robbery or gun plot.
Miguel and his friend arrived in a white Volkswagen Polo, near lockup garages in Marie Curie Avenue, shortly before 8pm.
Mr Unsworth said they were met by Watson, Sanders and McKeever, 28, one of whom pretended to try to open a garage as a "ruse".
He said Watson - wearing a distinctive blue tracksuit - produced the gun, demanded the cash, and told them to leave.
However, after getting back in the Polo, the court heard Miguel jumped out and ran after the gang and a shot was fired in Henry Hickman Close.
Mr Unsworth said Watson left a bike at the scene, which Sanders later instructed Avery, 25, to collect and take to his flat.
He said CCTV cameras on Peterborough Drive captured Blackhurst, 26, and Harrison, 22, cycling away, followed by Watson, Sanders and McKeever on foot, and Mawhinney, 20, on a bike, with Miguel in hot pursuit.
The jury heard the gang split up, with Watson entering Assissian Crescent and climbing over a wooden fence into Finlay Court, with Miguel just nine seconds behind him.
Mr Unsworth said: "Moments later, Miguel Reynolds would be shot. He was shot once to the back of the neck and fell to the ground."
He added: "Near him, on the ground, were found his two telephones and an open lock knife.
"He was likely to have been facing the gunman and bending downwards and forwards to avoid being struck."
Doctors said the bullet travelled downwards, tearing through his heart and other vital organs, before reaching his groin.
Experts said the 9mm bullet recovered from his body may have been fired from a Luger semi-automatic pistol, or a Glock with a new barrel fitted.
Pensioner Joyce Lennon rang 999 and said: "Oh God, I can't even breathe watching this, erm, I think somebody has just been shot a few yards away."
Mrs Lennon, who has since died, said one of two men who jumped over a fence said "go on, do it again", before "he just brought his arm up and shot him".
She said the killer - wearing a blue tracksuit - fired from close range, leaving the victim "face down" in a pool of blood.
As paramedics fought to save his life, the gang allegedly regrouped at a friend called Adam Harrison's home in Harrops Croft.
A police helicopter was scrambled and at 9.10pm, Mr Unsworth said a man was spotted "behaving in an odd manner as if he was trying to avoid being seen".
Mr Unsworth said the man - with distinctive red hair - hid under a small tree, but CCTV showed him walking in Trawden Way.
He said this was Watson, who had changed his clothes, and by the time he was arrested in July, had dyed his hair.
The court heard the gang tried to put up "a wall of silence" in police interviews, but Avery, who lived in Marie Curie Avenue, talked.
He was said to have told police Sanders used his home to store a Glock pistol and shotgun, and collected the guns - with a man in a blue tracksuit - that afternoon. Avery said he refused Sanders' offer to "come in on a job".
Mr Unsworth said Sanders told officers he set up the deal for unnamed friends, including a man with red hair, wearing a blue tracksuit, who later "squared up" to Miguel.
He said he walked away, but heard a gunshot and everyone ran, and that he saw Miguel get something from his car before chasing the red haired man.
The court heard Sanders, who also identified Mawhinney and said he knew McKeever, said the bike moved by Avery was used by the man in the blue tracksuit.
Mr Unsworth said Watson made no comment, save for identifying himself on CCTV, and claiming his hair had changed colour because of a heatwave.
Avery's girlfriend Kirby, 21, told police Sanders came to her flat three days before the murder to ask her to mind a “very heavy” Nike holdall, for £300.
Kirby denied selling a bike on Facebook, but later admitted sending Sanders a text message about police being outside, and posting an advert for a bike on Bargain Bay, which the young mum said she thought was Avery's bike.
Only Watson, Sanders and Blackhurst gave evidence during the trial, with each denying any involvement in a robbery plot or murder.
Blackhurst claimed he was only there to buy cannabis, and Watson said the suggestion he was at the scene, or robbed or shot Miguel, was "complete and absolute rubbish".
Sanders, of Charles Best Green, Bootle; Watson, of Litherland Park, Litherland; McKeever, of Howard Florey Avenue, Bootle; Blackhurst, of Cumpsty Road, Litherland; Harrison, of Kirkstone Road North, Litherland; Mawhinney, of Royton Road, Waterloo; and Avery, of Marie Curie Avenue, Netherton, all deny murder, conspiracy to rob, possessing a prohibited firearm, and possessing prohibited ammunition.
Kirby, formerly of Marie Curie Avenue, Netherton, denies assisting an offender.
