Three men deny murdering Lynford Brewster, 29, in Cardiff
An alleged murder victim was stabbed to death by three men in broad daylight, a court has heard.
Lynford Brewster, 29, died following an argument with one of the man accused of killing him, Jake Whelan, jurors were told.
Cardiff Crown Court heard how the victim was found to be carrying 31 wraps of heroin and 14 of cocaine and was involved in a “drug-running” operation.
Whelan, 24, of no fixed abode, Robert Lainsbury, 22, of Kidderminster, and Dwayne Edgar, 29, of Llanedeyrn, Cardiff, all deny murder.
Vincent Coughlin, prosecuting, told the court: “Earlier this year on a Sunday evening, June 12, in broad daylight in the middle of a quiet residential estate in Llanedeyrn , Cardiff, a 29- year-old man named Lynford Brewster was attacked by these three defendants.
“It was in broad daylight in front of residents of that estate.”
In the course of the attack Mr Brewster was stabbed once to the back of the chest, which entered the lung, and suffered a stab wound to the back of the right thigh and another leg wound to the back of the left thigh.
“Despite prompt arrival of paramedics he was pronounced dead at the scene,” Mr Coughlin said.
'Chased' victim
The court heard Brewster lived near the murder scene with his partner Samantha Brewster.
“Samantha Brewster will be an important witness,” Mr Coughlin said.
“Dwayne Edgar, the first defendant, lived close to the scene of Mr Brewster’s death.
“It’s about a three-and-a-half-minute walk.
“Samantha Brewster had been at an incident between her boyfriend Lynford and the third defendant Jake Whelan.
“Whelan may have been hurt in the course of things.
“That argument was a heated argument that ended with Mr Whelan driving a black Ford Fiesta away from Cardiff to the Midlands.”
The prosecution’s case is that Whelan returned that evening “bringing some muscle” with him in the form Lainsbury and the pair met up with Edgar who lived nearby.
Mr Coughlin said: “They left with the intention that all three would attack Mr Brewster.”
The court heard how one witness “saw the three men chasing Mr Brewster, each armed with a knife”.
Mr Coughlin continued: “Given the number of injuries the prosecution will say these three men set out to find him and kill him or cause him at the very least serious bodily injury.”
'Motivation unknown'
He showed the jury a knife believed to have been used in the attack.
Mr Coughlin called the weapon “ugly and sizeable” and said it bore “blood matching that of the defendant”.
“It was discarded by one of the defendants that fled the scene,” he said.
“It was recovered on a path on a woodland track that leads from the scene of the murder in the direction of Mr Edgar’s home.”
A black sheath that fitted the blade was found nearby.
“Scientists who examined it think it is likely that the knife has come from the sheath,” Mr Coughlin said.
He told the jury DNA was recovered from it and cellular material from Edgar and Whelan was found.
The court heard the victim’s knuckles were also swabbed and DNA from Lainsbury was found.
Mr Coughlin said: “We don’t know what the motivation was for the defendants to kill the deceased.
“They were the three men who carried out the fatal assault on Mr Brewster.”
The court heard Edgar and Whelan were friends and were in regular phone contact, including on the day of the attack.
Lainsbury was a friend of Whelan who lived in the Worcester area at the time of the alleged murder.
The court was briefly shown footage of the Brynfedw estate, in Llanedeyrn, where the alleged attack took place.
They were also shown footage of the black Ford Fiesta containing the defendants on June 12.
The first witness to be called was Mr Brewster's partner, Samantha Brewster.
Ms Brewster said she had been in a relationship with the deceased for almost five years.
She said on the day of Mr Brewster's death, her partner had met up with someone called "Tyrone" - a person she now knows to be as Jake Whelan - who was in a black Ford Fiesta.
When Mr Coughlin asked her what she remembers about the meeting, she said: "I got in the passenger side of the car. Before I could speak Lynford went to the driver's side, opened the door and shouted at me to get out of the car.
"Then Lynford was shouting at Jake, he was shouting that he (Jake) wouldn't deal with him."
She added: "Jake wasn't doing very much. Lynford was just shouting 'I know it was you, I know it was you'."
Ms Brewster, who was not married to the deceased but had taken his surname, said she heard more talking but it wasn't "aggressive". She said Whelan drove off at a normal speed."
Mr Coughlin asked Ms Brewster what mood Mr Brewster was in when he left the or home later that afternoon.
She said: "He was happy."
At 6.30pm, Mr Brewster called his partner.
Discussing the conversation, Ms Brewster said: "He said he was on his way home so get the food on. He was talking about the boxing and the baby."
She said he then saw two people he described as "Brum" and "Ty".
The witness added: "He said 'I think the motherf****** have set me up. Wait there, I'll ring you back'."
The next time Ms Brewster heard about her partner, he was dead.
Defence barrister Christopher Henley QC, representing Edgar put it to the witness that she and Mr Brewster met with Whelan to obtain drugs.
Ms Brewster agreed, saying "crack and heroin".
Mr Henley said: "Did you remove those drugs from the car as Lyndford distracted Jake?"
Ms Brewster denied this.
Mr Henley added: "Lynford had a reputation for robbing dealers and it didn't make him very popular. He did it for financial benefits and he took drugs. You knew full well Lynford took class A drugs."
Ms Brewster said: "Four of the five years we were together he was in prison."
"He had a history of drugs but he didn't take them with me."
The trial continues.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/man-involved-drug-running-operation-12274809
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