Man 'stabbed to death on floodlit football pitch in row over a debt'

Nicholas Stewart was stabbed to death as he played football with friends
Paul Cheston22 September 2015
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A man was stabbed to death as he played football with friends, the Old Bailey heard today.

Nicholas Stewart, 25, was in goal on a floodlit pitch in Earlsfield when he was attacked, the jury was told.

Simeon Scott-Wasey, also 25, “stormed” straight from a taxi onto the pitch with a knife in his hand, the court heard.

Mr Stewart tried to run but tripped over, rose to his feet but was caught by his shirt by Scott-Wasey.

He was then stabbed repeatedly through the heart and lung and in the chest and leg in front of the horrified players.

Mr Stewart was heard to shout “stop” or “get off” but despite emergency surgery at the scene, he bled to death.

Scott-Wasey, who refers to himself as Hamza, admits killing Mr Stewart but has pleaded not guilty to murder.

He has pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility because of schizophrenia.

As details of the killing were outlined to the jury members of Mr Stewart’s family left the court in tears.

Jonathan Rees QC, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Stewart, known as “Raider” had had an on-off relationship and a child with Georgina Williams.

He and Scott-Wasey had once been friends when they grew up together on the Henry Prince estate but they fell out.

One witness said the pair had a row in the early hours of the morning about a girl in which Scott-Wasey threatened the victim.

Another witness said there was an issue over a debt “but he was not clear about the nature of the debt or to whom it was owed,” said Mr Rees.

“But it maybe we will have to wait and see what the evidence suggests about the reasons for any tension between the two at the time of the killing.”

In August last year Scott-Wasey took a taxi to the caged all-purpose sports area close to Earlsfield station and launched the attack 50 seconds after the vehicle pulled up.

Mr Rees told the court that a witness known in court as Adam Thames said Scott-Wasey had “an angry look on his face.”

“He saw him walk straight up to Nicholas Stewart, take out a knife and stab him to the body,” said Mr Rees.

“The injuries were consistent with a sustained and determined attack.”

Mr Stewart also had defence injuries to his right hand showing he had tried to fend off the fatal blows.

Later Mr Thames picked Scott-Wasey, of Earlsfield, out of an ID parade.

Two days after the killing he was arrested at his brother’s home in West Drayton and Mr Stewart’s blood was found on his jogging bottoms, the court heard.

The case continues.

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