Jericho 'murder victim' had quarrelled with alleged killer on Snapchat

Alex Innes, 25, was said to have been fatally stabbed by Greg Muinami in the early hours of November 13 – having argued with him at the Love Jericho bar in Walton Street.

On Tuesday (May 16), jurors at Oxford Crown Court were told that Mr Innes stumbled back towards the Walton Street cocktail bar after he was knifed.

He picked up his glass and began to make his way back to where he had been stabbed – in a CCTV blackspot around the corner from the bar – but was intercepted by 19-year-old Muinami’s co-accused Michael Oluyitan, 19, Bradley Morton, 18, and 19-year-old Keyarno Johnson-Allen, each of whom were also allegedly armed with a knife.

While the three teenagers returned to Love Jericho, Mr Innes collapsed to the ground opposite Oxford University Press’s headquarters.

READ MORE: Live updates as prosecution opens its case against Jericho murder accused

Opening the Crown’s case to the jury, prosecutor Jonathan Higgs KC claimed that Muinami was responsible for stabbing Mr Innes but alleged that all four of the defendants were acting together, had come armed with knives and were ‘ready and willing to back each other up’.

The court heard that the dispute between Mr Innes and his alleged killer Muinami may have had its origins in an argument over an unpaid debt of £100, which it was claimed the latter owed the older man.

Mr Higgs told the jury that a friend of Mr Innes’, Remel Yearwood, who was at Love Jericho on the night of the stabbing, would tell them that he was informed by his friend that Muinami owed him £100 for the sale of a pair of trainers.

Exactly what the dispute was about ‘doesn’t particularly matter’, the prosecutor told the jurors. “What matters is that there was undoubtedly a dispute."

A series of Snapchat messages between Mr Innes and Muinami had been recovered by the police from the former’s phone, jurors heard.

Those messages – sent on the evening of November 1 – showed Mr Innes reminding the younger man of the supposed debt. “U owe me a bill,” he wrote, using the slang term for £100. “I niced you with them [the trainers] and u just ghosted man like a d***head.”

The jury was told Muinami was said to have made his own complaints in reply to Mr Innes, writing: “U love talking smoke on man’s name [sic] think I won’t hear it.” He sent the older man a picture of himself with a wad of cash in his mouth, writing: “Wanna bite?”

They were said to have argued at the Clouds shisha bar on Cowley Road around a week later, on November 6.

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On the night of the stabbing – Saturday, November 12 - Muinami was the first to arrive at Love Jericho, the jury heard. CCTV showed him standing at the bar at around 8pm, a colourful afro comb in his hair. Oluyitan arrived later, at around 11.25pm, walking towards the building with his hood pulled up.

The alleged stabber left the bar at around 11.50pm, Mr Higgs said. CCTV picked him up as he walked down Walton Street towards his home in Cranham Street.

The prosecutor asked jurors rhetorically: "Did he go home perhaps to collect a knife?"

Coincidentally, as he passed the health centre by Cardigan Street, Mr Innes’ car was seen going in the opposite direction - towards Love Jericho.

The Kidlington man parked up and walked to the bar, greeting friend Remel Yearwood as he arrived.

At around 12.15am, Bradley Morton, driving a red Vauxhall Astra, and Keyarno Johnson-Allen arrived at the bar, accompanied by two girls.

Muinami had returned by 12.30am, still dressed in the same clothes he was seen wearing earlier that night.

Multiple CCTV cameras captured the interaction between Muinami and Mr Innes as they appeared to have a heated discussion on the terrace outside the club. A third man, Dontay Hart, was said to have been acting as the peacemaker, placing his arm between the pair.

At one stage, Muinami was said to have ‘flicked’ his head sideways as if beckoning Mr Innes to follow him. He walked away, followed by Oluyitan, past the bar’s terrace and towards Walton Crescent – pulling up his hood as he turned the corner.

Mr Innes joined him, following his friend Mr Yearwood and Mr Hart, the jury was told. He left his glass on a banister as he left the bar.

They were later joined by Morton and Johnson-Allen, it was alleged.

The stabbing itself largely took place in a CCTV ‘blackspot’ at the corner of Walton Street and Walton Crescent, the court heard.

However, the cameras picked up Mr Innes running from the group, out in front of a car, then racing to pick up his glass from in front of the cocktail bar.

He was clutching his chest, with prosecutors claiming he had just been stabbed.

Having ejected the contents of his glass, he was seen returning to the group before being chased down the street by all the defendants except Muinami.

Mr Innes collapsed near a back gate to Somerville College, some 116m away from where the stabbing is said to have taken place Picture: Oxford Mail (Image: Oxford Mail)

Mr Innes collapsed on the pavement outside a back gate to Somerville College, some 116.5m from where he had been stabbed in the chest, and passers-by rushed to his aid.

Mr Hart could be seen going over to where he lay, the court heard, followed by Johnson-Allen and Morton. The latter walked back towards Love Jericho, speaking into his phone before joining co-defendant Oluyitan.

The prosecutor alleged of Morton: “He can have been in no doubt of the seriousness of the injuries caused to Alex Innes and yet he appears at one stage to be laughing."

Following the stabbing, it was said the four men splintered. Johnson-Allen was the first to be detained; part of a group of young men stopped by officers at around 12.50am.

Oluyitan was detained at around 1am in Walton Street, while Morton was initially allowed on his way after police spoke to him on Worcester Street but arrested later after more information was received by the officers.

Muinami was the last to be arrested. He was seen on CCTV in Park End Street around an hour after the stabbing, having apparently changed his clothing.

The alleged stabber and Oluyitan answered no comment to every question detectives asked of them.

Alex Innes Picture: Family handout/TVP (Image: Provided by Thames Valley Police)

Morton and Johnson-Allen both gave prepared statements, with each denying involvement in the alleged murder. The latter claimed to have seen Mr Innes slumped on the road, told his friend to call an ambulance then went ‘straight over to Alex and did everything the operator told me to’.

Mr Higgs said Mr Innes’ blood was found on Oluyitan’s trainers and outer clothing. There was bloodstaining on Morton and Johnson-Allen’s shoes, the jury was told.

Johnson-Allen, of Furlong Close, Oluyitan, of Waynflete Road, Morton, of Cumberlege Close, and Muinami, of Cranham Street, all Oxford, deny murder, manslaughter and possession of a knife.

The trial continues, with jurors expected to visit the scene of the killing on Wednesday morning.