A TEENAGER who drove three men who are alleged killers to other parts of the country said she would not have done so if she knew a fatal stabbing had taken place, a court has heard.
On Tuesday, January 3, Kelsea Byrne, 19, from Warwick Road, Basingstoke, began giving her evidence at Winchester Crown Court in the trial of the murder of Frantisek Olah where she stands accused of assisting an offender.
Ismaila Kamarra-Jarra, of Milton Close; Je Daine Carty, 18, of Ferndown Close; and Cohan Daley, 18, whose address cannot be given for legal reasons, have all been charged with the murder of Mr Olah on Sunday, May 22.
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Mr Olah, 31, was found with serious injuries in Musgrave Close, Brighton Hill. He was later pronounced dead.
Kaysha Saunders, 18, of Highfield Chase, and Abbie Mills, 18, from Woburn Gardens, have also been charged with assisting an offender.
As previously reported, the three men allegedly fled the immediate scene of the murder with the help of Saunders and Byrne. While Carty and Kamarra-Jarra fled to Oxford, Daley was later arrested in Southampton.
The court heard that Byrne drove Carty and Kamarra-Jarra to Oxford and Daley to Ilford and was paid £100 for doing so.
During her evidence, she told the court she was "scared" when she found out she could get in trouble for giving them a lift when news broke of the murder.
She said: "I told my mum that night that I think I am going to be in trouble for this and then the following morning I was arrested.
"I wasn't sure if I would be in trouble as in my eyes I had only done a lift."
Defending, Adrianne Knight asked if when giving the lifts she knew anything about a murder.
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Byrne answered no and said if she knew she wouldn't have given anyone a lift. The court also heard that she visited the crime scene with her mother before she knew who was involved in the murder.
"I parked up and I got out of the car and I walked down the path and walked back up. I got back in the car and drove away," she told the court.
The court heard that after the journeys to Oxford and Ilford, Byrne took her car to the car wash, after taking items to the rubbish dump.
Ms Knight continued: "The suggestion is you went to the car wash to get rid of any evidence is that correct?" - Byrne answered no.
Ms Knight also asked if any of the men said they had 'murdered someone, knifed someone, mentioned any serious harm to someone or said they were on the run from police'.
Byrne answered no and said if they did "I would not have given the lifts".
In cross-examination, prosecuting Sarah Jones KC added: "At the point when you hear at work [about the murder] and before you are arrested do you understand there is a manhunt for Cohan?"
Byrne answered no.
Ms Jones continued: "You had absolutely no concern for assisting the authorities to help them find someone who has murdered somebody else?"
Byrne answered no again.
The trial continues.
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