'No forensic' evidence to link Gosport man with fatal stabbing, defence says in summing up

Defence Philippa McAtasney KC told Portsmouth Crown Court in her closing speech today (August 7) that jurors should not ‘tar’ Aiden West, 24, with the ‘same brush’ as his half-brother Tommy West, 18, who has admitted to murder, robbery and possession of a blade following the cocaine robbery on Levi. 

Aiden West, of Tudor Close, has denied murder and possession of a blade but has admitted to robbery. Following the conclusion of evidence during the six-week trial, Ms McAtasney has now finished the defence’s case. During her summing up, she told jurors that ‘Aiden of course has admitted being part of a plan to rob Levi of his cocaine but that does not make him guilty of murder.’

The 22-year-old victim was lured to shops behind Nobes Avenue after 2am on November 24, 2023, before being stabbed in his Vauxhall Corsa and attempting to escape - resulting in him crashing his car into a wall. Levi was then chased into Keyes Road before being set upon again.

Ms McAtasney told the court that previous convictions of Aiden should not play a part in determining his verdict. She said ‘it wouldn’t serve justice and it is not what any of us, as civilised people, would want.’ Ms McAtasney told the jury: “No one should be found guilty of association so don’t be tempted to lump him and Tommy together or tar him with the same brush. 

“Tommy alone was in the car. Tommy alone stabbed Levi.”

Speaking of eye witness, Claire Hunter, who gave evidence, Ms McAtasney said that she is a ‘dangerous woman’ and a ‘prime example’ of why the jurors should consider all of the evidence carefully. She said that the eye witness, of Keyes Road, ‘said one of them was stabbing him while the other one was kicking him while he was on the floor.’ Ms McAtasney said: “We know that is not right because we have the footage.”

The court also heard how Claire Hunter said that one of the kicks to Levi’s body was ‘so hard it flipped the body over.’ Ms McAtasney told the court that this claim is ‘absolute nonsense and total fiction’ as it took two police officers to turn the body at the scene.

Ms McAtasney said that Claire Hunter was not being truthful ‘despite her fake tears and melodrama’ and ‘she is a prime example, you may think, of a woman that is very dangerous’ and that jurors ‘must not just trust witnesses without seeking support’. She said: “It is human instinct - We want to be able to believe what we are being told by people, particularly in a court room like this.”

The defence told the court room: “We have no evidence that Aiden was in that car and, in fact, no evidence as to where Aiden was in proximity to that car. 

“There is no direct evidence - no CCTV shows where Aiden is, there is no forensic evidence to link Aiden West to the car at all, no DNA but of course Tommy’s - Tommy’s left palm print is on the car - No evidence to link Aiden to the stabbing and the car.

“We can be sure that, on the evidence, that Levi was stabbed in the car five times - There is no doubt that all of the evidence points to Tommy being in the car stabbing Levi five times.”

Ms McAtasney also spoke of a 999 call made to emergency services by a member of the public. The person calling said they heard a bang and they said: “Then I heard ‘what are you doing bruv?’. Ms McAtasney said: “Could that be Aiden? If that is Aiden asking Tommy, it seems he wasn’t expecting, encouraging or participating in what happened. It was a surprise to him.”

“It also explains why, you may think, why Aiden has none of Levi’s blood on his clothing because he wasn’t in the car.

“He wasn’t there for any stabbing.”

Other people in the case include the brothers’ mother Joanne West, 45, of no fixed address, who has admitted two counts of assisting an offender. Liam Savage, 37, of Trinity Green in Gosport, has also admitted two counts of assisting an offender.

Sarah Flynn, 36, of James Close in Gosport, was charged with two counts of assisting an offender.

 The judge will give his summing up before the jurors will then retire to consider their verdicts.