TAIRU JALLOW TRIAL: Kettering man died from stab wound to heart after trying to block blade with limbs, court hears

The 29-year-old Gambian national was killed in his house in Havelock Street on January 14, 2018.

Clever Makande, 24, Kausa Ceesay, 24, and Ngange Sowe, 30, all from Birmingham, and Babacarr Sylva, 33, from Nottingham, have all pleaded not guilty to murder and a second charge of conspiracy to rob.

Prosecutor Claire Howell told the court Mr Jallow was stabbed in the torso and limbs.

One wound to the central lower part of his chest cut through a rib, then the heart and diaphragm and nicked the stomach.

"His death would not have been instantaneous and Mr Jallow would have been alive for a period of time," said Mrs Howell.

The post-mortem examination also revealed Mr Jallow had a number of smaller wounds to his fingers and forearms.

"These injuries are typical of when someone is using their limbs to block the path of a blade," Mrs Howell told the jury of 11 women and one man.

In the days after the alleged murder, Makande tried to sell his Audi, which was captured on CCTV in and near Havelock Street on January 14, on Gumtree using a false name. It was bought by someone in Wales.

Mrs Howell, referencing the defendant's phone records, told the court Sylva had regularly searched Kettering news updates between January 19 and 24.

A friend of Mr Jallow who phoned police the night of the attack shortly after his jacket was slashed by a group of men outside the Havelock Street home identified Ceesay, which led to his arrest.

During police interviews, each defendant denied knowing Mr Jallow or each other, but the prosecution alleges the men were all together on January 14 and riding in the two cars seen in CCTV footage: an Audi convertible and a BMW.

Mrs Howell told the jury this was a "calculated raid" because the men carried out reconnaissance - namely parking in Havelock Street for some time.

The men also kept in contact before arriving in Kettering, "went mob-handed", "made efforts to cover their faces" and "brought a knife or knives to the scene".

"It took only a matter of minutes to storm their way through and stab Mr Jallow in the heart and leave with what they came for - drugs and/or money belonging him," said Mrs Howell.

"They knew what they went for and they overwhelmed any opposition with serious violence; that was their plan."

The trial continues.