BREAKING: Four men found not guilty of killing 18-year-old after judge throws out case

Four young men accused of killing an 18-year-old have been found not guilty after a judge ruled they had no case to answer.

Coby Tristram was stabbed to death in the street during a confrontation in Whitefield, Bury. Manchester Crown Court heard that the killing came after rival drug dealers clashed over ‘turf’.

A 16-year-old boy was on trial accused of murder and an alternative count of manslaughter, while Charlie Harrison, 21; Shams Benda, 18; and a 17-year-old boy, were all accused of manslaughter. But following legal submissions by their defence teams, a judge ruled that a jury could not safely convict them.

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Therefore the jury found the four men not guilty of murder and manslaughter respectively, on the judge’s direction. Prosecutors said they did not intend to appeal against the judge’s ruling.

The trial, which had lasted for two weeks, was brought to an end after some of the defendants pleaded guilty to less serious charges they were facing. Members of Mr Tristram’s family were in court when the not guilty verdicts were returned.

Judge Nicholas Dean KC said of the family: “Can I commend them for the dignity with which they have faced what must have been a very difficult time.”

The trial was told that all four defendants and Mr Tristram were armed with knives on March 28 this year. Mr Tristam was rushed to hospital after being stabbed to the arm and died two weeks later, on April 11.

In a ruling following the close of the prosecution’s case, the judge said that Mr Tristam had been the first of the five to produce a knife, and added that the 16-year-old defendant had run away from an initial encounter before being ‘chased’ by Mr Tristram.

In a written ruling, Judge Dean, the Honorary Recorder of Manchester, said: “When all of the evidence relevant to the direct encounter between [the 16-year-old] and Tristram is considered, it positively suggests that [the 16-year-old] acted only in lawful self-defence.

“Therefore, the prosecution evidence, taken at its highest, is such that a jury properly directed could not reasonably conclude that [the 16-year-old] did not act in self-defence.” The boy said he was acting in self-defence following his arrest, and in a prepared statement claimed that CCTV footage in the case ‘speaks volumes’.

Prosecutors had conceded in their opening speech that if they were unable to prove that the 16-year-old hadn’t acted in self-defence, then the other three defendants could not be found guilty of manslaughter. During the trial, jurors were told that the four defendants and Mr Tristram were ‘low level drug dealers’. The 16-year-old was allied with Benda, while Mr Tristam was with Harrison and the 17-year-old.

The confrontation came after the 16-year-old and Benda were spotted on rival ‘turf’. Prosecutors said that Benda and the 16-year-old attended a property on Mather Avenue to ‘base themselves there for the day’, close to a property on Abingdon Avenue where Mr Tristram, Harrison and the 17-year-old were operating from.

Prosecutors had alleged that the incident involved ‘mutual violence’, and claimed that self-defence did ‘not really arise’ in the case. But Judge Dean ruled that there was ‘no evidence of any mutual agreement’ between either side to engage in violence.

The judge said that the 16-year-old and Benda ‘knew that they were trespassing on rival drug dealers' turf’ and ‘would have had some expectation of a hostile reaction if caught’. The judge also ruled that the 16-year-old and Benda should be acquitted of violent disorder after ruling that they had no case to answer.

Harrison, of Mather Avenue, Whitefield, and the 17-year-old pleaded guilty to violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon. The 16-year-old and Benda, of Victoria Grove, Bolton pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon. The four defendants were remanded in custody and are due to be sentenced next month.