A dad has described seeing a fight outside his home shortly before a young man died after suffering a 'stab' wound.
Daniel Hart took to the witness stand yesterday at Oxford Crown Court as the murder trial of Joshua Harling, 19, from Oxford, continued.
Prosecutors allege that Nathan Braim, 20, of Broadwaters Avenue, Thame, and Benjamin Eyles, 19, of Monks Hollow, Marlow Bottom, killed Mr Harling on the night of July 22 last year – which they both deny.
Accountant Mr Harling was found in his crashed car on Chinnor Road, Thame, but could not be saved.
Before the accident, it was alleged that he was involved in a fight on a residential street close to where the car crashed.
Mr Hart, said he was just about to watch a football game with his son when he saw the scene unfold from his living room window. He said he watched Mr Harling get out of his VW Polo – which he had stopped abruptly on the road – before approaching three young men.
He said: “They were a bit stand-offish from each other. He [Mr Harling] was the aggressor to begin with; swaggering around.
“It was a scuffle, it didn’t look like a fight. They were sizing each other up.”
Mr Hart told the court that Mr Harling then went back to his car where he picked up a metal object, before going back to the young men. He added: “He went back to the group with more confidence than before. They were stunned by the weapon.”
Asked by the prosecution, what happened next, Mr Hart said he saw Mr Harling hit one of the young men in the face with the object which caused him to bleed.
He told the court: “It could have been a broken nose or it could have been a split lip, but there was gonna be a lot of blood.”
ALSO READ: Friend of Joshua Harling describes 'knife attack'
The jury heard that that one of the three young men then ran away while the man who had been struck ‘got his bearings’ and then attacked Mr Harling.
A 15-year-old boy – who also took to the witness stand on Wednesday – said he was sat in the passenger seat of Mr Harling’s car while the fight unfolded.
Mr Hart said he saw a second male in the street who did not do anything throughout the course of the brawl, but kicked and smashed the back window of Mr Harling’s car as it was being driven off.
He said the young man then got into a black BMW before picking up the young man who had been hit in the face, and driving away quickly "as though they were chasing after" Mr Harling.
He told the jury that he heard Mr Harling’s car crash soon after on Chinnor Road, and later spoke to police.
Mr Hart was asked whether he saw a knife during any part of the incident, to which he replied ‘no’. He told the court that he did not see anything in the young men's hands and that apart from the blow to the face, no one looked seriously injured.
The trial continues at Oxford Crown Court.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article