Ryan Burton murder trial - CCTV cameras followed route of five e-bike riders across town in minutes before Kettering killing
A jury has seen footage from a network of cameras of young men riding ‘in convoy’ on a winding journey through residential streets of Kettering, as the trial into the alleged murder of Ryan Burton got under way.
The Northampton Crown Court jury watched as a masked group travelled from a home in Bath Road to try to burgle a flat in Windmill Avenue, before carrying out a robbery in Wallis Road.
Cameras then followed them moving off toward Spring Rise Park, close to where Ryan Burton was attacked on the evening of January 10.
He died six days later, in hospital, from his injuries.
The prosecution alleges the group responsible for the murder are Ace Hill, Cameron Williams-Ferguson, Connor White, Kyle McSkimming and Keiton Underwood, who are standing trial alongside a 17-year-old boy who we will refer to as AA because he cannot be named before he reaches 18. All deny murder and robbery.
Opening the case, which is expected to last 12 weeks, Gordon Aspden KC said that the men were ‘in convoy’ during a ‘spree of offending’ on the night in question.
The defendants listened intently, all dressed in dark suits and shirts, as the case against them was outlined. Family and friends were there to support them.
They were shown footage taken from the AA’s mobile phone of him pulling a huge zombie knife from his trousers. The prosecution say this was the knife later used to kill Mr Burton.
They also saw images of a taxi allegedly called by Hill and Underwood on the afternoon of the attack, which took them to the the AA’s girlfriend’s home in Raunds.
‘They then rode off in convoy’
Footage was shown, said to be of the two men meeting outside the Cordwainer pub, before getting in the cab at 4.08pm in Havelock Street.
It’s alleged they collected the weapon from AA in Raunds and the taxi driver returned them back to Kettering.
The jury then saw footage from numerous security cameras that followed five men on four e-bikes leaving a house in Bath Road to turn into Laurel Road at 6.11pm.
The group travelled into Silverbirch Drive and waited while one went on alone into Summer Crescent. The prosecution say this was Cameron Williams-Ferguson stopping off at a pal’s house who was going to bleed the brakes on his e-bike.
Mr Aspden said: “They then rode off in convoy.”
The group went back down Laburnum Crescent, past the Ronald Tree Nursery and reached Avondale Road at 6.20pm.
They crossed Stamford Road into Naseby Road, then Lyveden Place and into Washington Square.
Cameras in Lilford Place then caught the group passing at 6.21pm, with one man heard on the audio to say ‘Yo, relax bruv, I’ve got not brakes.’
‘They’re booming the crib’
At 6.22pm the men were seen on camera arriving in Windmill Avenue and it’s there, at the flat of Ace Hill’s girlfriend, that the prosecution say they staged an aggravated burglary, with one male victim running out of a back door to escape them.
Mr Aspden said: “We don’t see them moving for 11 minutes, and it’s during that period that they’re ‘booming the crib’.
The male victim gave a statement to police saying that armed men had burst into the home but he had managed to escape. He said he recognised one of the men as Keiton Underwood.
At 6.33pm the bikes were seen moving down Windmill Avenue, past Kettering Science Academy and into Pipers Hill Road.
Then footage showed a man, alone, on a Kawasaki motorbike travelling up Wallis Road towards the group of e-bikers. The group went out of view before the lone man was seen walking down the pavement wearing a cycle helmet, with the Kawasaki now being driven as part of the group of e-bikes toward London Road. The prosecution alleges the group stole the motorbike before going to Spring Rise Park, where they say the murder then took place.
‘I didn’t give the blow but my man did’
The jury was also told that police raided Hill’s home in Minden Close, Corby, 13 days after Mr Burton’s murder, and discovered an iPhone hidden behind pipes in the boiler cupboard. He had told police that he had an alibi for the night in question, but on his phone officers found a series of messages and videos that showed he appeared to know some of the other suspects.
In the hours after the murder, the phone was allegedly used to call AA, and to share links to Northants Telegraph reports about the closure of Highfield Road and other areas near the site of the killing.
On January 18, messages were sent from the iPhone to a man called Risky Biz, which said “Mazza, caught an M. I didn’t give the blow but my man (did). Shanked him in the arm, but I’ve got messages on Keiton’s phone and then obviously I’m expecting to get banged in the next few days for an M”. The prosecution says ‘caught an M’ means ‘murdered someone’.
There were also texts sent from Hill’s phone to AA’s phone saying ‘mazza, mad, mad ting’ with the youth asking ‘where’s the mindi?’ followed by ‘K’s got it’. Mindi is the Somalian word for knife and is used as street slang in the UK.
On the phone were also messages sent to a man called OJ, saying ‘linked up with Keiton and some next trappers, got on a Sur-Ron to (my girlfriend’s). Boomed her crib”, apparently referring to the aggravated burglary in Windmill Avenue.
And ‘me and Keiton rammed him off and chefed him and then took his bike,’ said to be in reference to the robbery in Wallis Road.
Jury sees footage of zombie knife
AA was also arrested and his phone interrogated. The prosecution say messages were found relating to the sale of a zombie knife to Keiton Underwood on the afternoon of the killing.
There was also a video of AA pulling a huge machete-style zombie knife from his trousers. He told police in interview he had been storing it for a pal, and had given it back before Christmas. But the video of the knife was taken on January 7, three days before the murder. AA was unable to explain the timing of the video.
Tomorrow (Friday) the jury will be taken through the final part of the prosecution opening, including the moment the crown alleges Mr Burton was killed. It’s expected the first witnesses will be called in the afternoon.
- Standing trial are Ace Hill, 19, of Minden Close, Corby; Kyle McSkimming, 24, of Pen Green Lane, Corby; Keiton Underwood, 20, of Bridge Road, Desborough; Connor White, 25, of Spencer Street, Rothwell; Cameron Williams-Ferguson, 24, of High Street, Kettering and a youth, aged 17, from Nottingham who was living in Kettering at the time of the incident.