Pennywell/Sunderland: Father stabbed to death after asking yobs to be quiet so his baby could sleep

Father stabbed to death after asking yobs to be quiet so his baby could sleep

A gang of yobs stabbed a young father to death after he told them to be quiet so his baby could sleep, a court heard.

Kevin Johnson, 22, was getting ready for bed when he heard noises outside his home in Sunderland earlier this year.

Three teenagers challenged him to a fight and he went outside his home in Partick Road, Pennywell, to confront them shortly after midnight on May 19.

He was surrounded by the gang and fatally stabbed in the chest and then left to die in the street.

Kevin Johnson (above with his seven-month-old son Chase) was stabbed to death after telling a gang of yobs to be quiet so his baby could sleep

Dean Curtis, 19, of Forest Road, Ford Estate, Sunderland and two youths, aged 16 and 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons, all deny murder.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that Mr Johnson, who was father to a seven-month-old baby, lived with his fiancee Adele Brett, 26, and her seven-year-old child from a previous relationship.

They had been out for the evening to a nearby pub and were going to bed when they heard shouting from their street.

Mr Johnson went to the front bedroom window to see where the commotion was coming from.

Prosecutor Robert Woodcock told the jury at Newcastle Crown Court that the three defendants were enticing Mr Johnson out of his home for a fight.

"Kevin was heard to shout: 'If you want to fight, just one on one and not the three of you,"' he said.

"They were beckoning with their hands, walking away from Kevin, clearly enticing Kevin to come towards them.

"All three were closing in on Kevin. One of them was moving his arms across his chest and Kevin was dodging out of the way.

"Two got closer to Kevin as he backed away he appeared to stumble and fall to the floor.

"He got back up and one of the males, the one furthest away, threw a rock or brick at him. It missed and fortunately fell on the road.

"Kevin said: 'You couldn't fight with your hands. You've stabbed me' and collapsed a wall struggling for breath."

The court was told that after fatally stabbing Mr Johnson, Curtis and the two youths ran off in a "heightened state".

On nearby Geddes Road they damaged two cars and were heard shouting about stabbing Mr Johnson.

"These are probably part phrases of triumphantilism about what they had just done," Mr Woodcock told the jury.

The barrister read from the transcript of a 999 call Mr Johnson's fiancee made to the police.

"I think my boyfriend has just been stabbed. I think he has been stabbed. He's fallen over a wall," Miss Brett said.

"Three boys have come round the corner causing trouble. He went outside to try and stop them."

A short time after stabbing Mr Johnson, the three approached Jamie Thompson, who was walking from a friend's house to meet his girlfriend, and attacked him.

Mr Thompson was stabbed in the chest but fortunately survived the attack.

The court was told that on the night Mr Johnson died the three defendants had been out together drinking.

After the attacks Curtis was later said to have told a friend that he asked one of the victims shortly before stabbing him: "Do you want to meet Mr Stanley?" - referring to the red handled Stanley knife he was carrying.

The three defendants deny the murder of Mr Johnson and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr Thompson.

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