Two teenagers found guilty of murdering 20-year-old Connor Barrett at friend’s birthday
Two teenagers have today been found guilty of the murder of Yarmouth man Connor Barrett.
Connor, 20, was stabbed to death by Jesse Quaye, 18, and a 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, when he intervened in a dispute at a friend’s birthday celebrations in Hemsby in May this year.
A third man, Anthony McLean, 41, was also convicted of assisting an offender by the jury at Norwich Crown Court.
Quaye, 18, of College Court, Crittens Road, Cobholm, and the 15 year old youth from Great Yarmouth were found guilty of murder following a four-week trial.
The 15 year old pleaded guilty, and Quaye found guilty, of possessing offensive weapons namely knives. Both were also found guilty of actual bodily harm to Ricky Halliday, a fellow party goer.
McClean, of Gatacre Road, Great Yarmouth, was found guilty of assisting Quaye to evade justice by driving him to London in the hours after the attack.
All were remanded in custody to return for sentencing on Friday January 16.
Police were called to a property on The Glebe in Hemsby at 11:20pm on Saturday 10 May to reports of a disturbance at a 21st birthday party, at which Connor had been the unofficial DJ and the offenders had attended as part of a large group having seen details of the family event posted on social media.
On arrival, officers found Connor in the front garden with serious injuries to his chest and back. He was taken to the James Paget Hospital for treatment but was sadly pronounced dead a short while later.
Post mortem results showed Connor, of Abyssinia Road, Great Yarmouth, had received four stab wounds but died as a result of a single stab wound to the chest which had pierced his lung.
A murder investigation was launched by the joint Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team which, at its peak, involved more than 50 detectives, officers and staff.
Within days, enquiries revealed Quaye and his accomplice had both been seen in possession of knives at the event before becoming involved in an altercation with one of Connor’s friends.
In an attempt to defend his friend, Connor confronted the defendants and tried to talk to them but which led to a violent altercation and in Connor received multiple stab wounds.
After fleeing the scene, the younger of the two was heard by witnesses confessing to the crime. Forensic examinations would later find Connor’s DNA under his fingernails and his blood on the waistband of the youth’s hooded top.
Quaye was picked up from the scene by Mclean and taken to the Mclean home address. The following morning Mclean drove him to an address in London, despite being a disqualified driver and knowing that Quaye had been involved in the stabbing. Returning from London and wanted by police, Quaye handed himself in to police in Great Yarmouth on Monday 12 May having made attempts to rid himself of any forensic evidence linking him to the crime.