Halifax murder trial: Row over woman led to stabbings, court told

Rashane Douglas, 19, stabbed Haidar Shah, 19; Joshua Clark, 21; and Brandon Coupe, 18; in the chest within seconds of each other following a row outside a nightclub in Halifax in the early hours of October 1 last year.

Mr Shah and Mr Clark, who both have Bradford links, died from their stab wounds, while Mr Coupe survived.

See a recap on live coverage of the first day of the trial

Prosecutor Mark McKone KC said Douglas was angry that a woman he had been expecting to meet at Maggie’s bar had been speaking to Mr Shah at the nightspot, and had chosen to be with him that night instead.

Jurors at Bradford Crown Court were shown CCTV of Douglas approaching a booth where the woman, Kiera Hamilton, was sitting with Mr Shah.

Forensic inquiries taking place after the deaths in Halifax town centre (Image: PA)

Douglas could be seen removing Mr Shah’s arm from around Ms Hamilton, and to put his own arm around her shoulders instead.

Ms Hamilton later told police Douglas had asked her: “Why you sat in front of me doing this,” before getting “angry” and asking Mr Shah his name and where he was from, it was said.

She told officers she and Mr Shah had known each other for “a couple of months”, saying: “We were really close and we was a bit more than friends.”

During the confrontation, Mr Shah got up and walked away from the booth, later walking Ms Hamilton to a taxi outside the venue and returning to the club, jurors heard.

Mr McKone said Douglas was seen on CCTV appearing to follow the pair down the road, before waiting in the smoking area of the nightclub to watch Mr Shah return.

The stabbings happened at 3.45am after Douglas, with his friends Yaseen Iqbal and Levell Clark, and Mr Shah, with his friends Mr Clark and Mr Coupe, had all left the bar.

CCTV from the street outside shows Mr Coupe attempt to punch Douglas, before Mr Shah and Mr Clark cross the road towards him.

Mr McKone said Douglas then pulled a knife from his pocket and held it in his right hand, appearing to hide it behind his leg.

The footage, which drew sobs, from the public gallery, then shows Douglas stabbing Mr Coupe, Mr Shah and Mr Clark before running away and apparently throwing the knife down a drain.

Mr McKone said: “The prosecution accept the CCTV shows Brandon Coupe throwing a punch at Rashane Douglas and the two deceased men move towards him, albeit not at the same time.

“The crux of the prosecution case is that it was totally unreasonable for Rashane Douglas to react to this by stabbing three men in the upper body.

“None of the three men had a knife. The prosecution say not only can Rashane Douglas be seen on CCTV to take a knife out of his pocket but, significantly, he does not wave his knife around as you would expect if he was trying to scare the men away so as to avoid violence.

“He discreetly hides the knife behind his leg so none of the men would be able to see it.”

The prosecutor said he anticipated Douglas’s case will be that he was acting in self-defence.

Douglas, of Jade Place, Huddersfield, denies murder, attempted murder and wounding with intent. He has pleaded guilty to possessing a knife in a public place.

Iqbal, 18, of Hall Bower, Huddersfield, denies assisting an offender over claims he helped Douglas avoid arrest by fleeing the scene with him in a taxi, letting him stay at his house that night, and helping him dispose of the clothing he had been wearing at the time.

The trial continues.