Update: "He was unconscious on the floor, blood was coming out of his nose or his mouth"

Tuesday 15 March 2016

A witness in the trial of five teenagers who deny perverting the course of justice over the death of Morgan Huelin has described how two of them initially turned down her offer of help, and looked "unsure what to do".

In Jersey's Youth Court this morning, Carly Cudlipp described how she was out for a walk with her dog on the morning of 5 July last year, when she came across two teenagers standing over Morgan, who was lying on the road with blood on his face, and apparently unconscious.

She said: "I could tell that the boy wasn't very well, he was unconscious on the floor, blood was coming out of his nose or his mouth, I offered to help, and initially they declined my offer of help.

"They didn't say why. I initially thought he may have had a fit or something. They were standing over him, not quite sure what to do, so I insisted I called an ambulance. I asked if an amblance had been called and they said no." 

After going back into her home to get her phone and call the ambulance, Mrs Cudlipp described how she was given instructions on how to try and help Morgan over the phone, and that both of the two boys at the scene, and another passer-by, all tried to help.

She said: "It felt that we were all trying to work together as a team to do all we could, I couldn't see if there was any signs of breathing.

"We were all trying to execute what the paramedics were instructing us to do.

"I think they were both concerned, and it was at this point (when the ambulance arrived) that they seemed to be getting more affected by it."

Once the paramedics were on the scene she said she tried to talk to the boys to find out what had happened to try and help the paramedics. By this time a third boy had joined them. 

Mrs Cudlipp said: "I found the whole situation quite strange which was why I was asking them questions. I was puzzled. I couldn't quite understand, he was clearly seriously ill. What also puzzled me was the fact Morgan was lying with his head on a cushion, presumably the boys had put it there, so there was some desire to make him comfortable, but no desire to seek help...Someone said they had dragged him, from....(a house) and to not make him comfortable there, but to move him, seemed strange and it didn't feel right."

Yesterday, on the first day of an expected five-day trial in which five boys are denying charges of perverting the course of justice, former Solicitor General Howard Sharp QC said that the Crown’s case is that the boys were desperate to avoid having police go to the house where he had spent the night – because there was a stash of drugs and indecent images of children there.

He said that the boys and Morgan had been to a party the night before, on the evening of 4 July, and that Morgan had consumed Morphine, Codeine and Etizolam, and needed help to walk back to the house where they stayed.

Yesterday, he revealed that one of the boys on trial for perverting the course of justice over the death of 16-year-old Morgan Huelin texted a friend an hour after an ambulance arrived at the scene to say Morgan had taken “loads of drugs” and that one of their friends was “likely” to get into trouble.

The text messages were read out to the Youth Court where the five teenagers are on trial over the events of 5 July last year after Morgan was found unconscious in a country lane.

Some of the text messages read out by Advocate Sharp between one of the defendants and a friend said:

Defendant: “After the party we went to the hot tub and Morgan was tripping on something.”

Defendant: “I’m scared. Don’t tell anyone.”

Friend: “Would [another defendant] get into loads of ****?”

Defendant: “Most likely”

Friend: “What did he take?”

Defendant: “Loads of drugs.”

Defendant: “Morgan drank a bottle of codeine and used a bong.”

At that point, the friend suggested that Morgan might need his stomach pumped, but the defendant texted back: “It’s too late. It will be in his bloodstream. He had vomit in his mouth. I had to get it out. Thank you for listening. You’ve made me feel a lot better.”

Speaking about the messages, the prosecutor Advocate Sharp told the Court that the texts were a critical part of the evidence.

He said: “His messages amounted to an admission Morgan was moved so that [a defendant] didn’t get into trouble with the police.

“A conversation between the boys and [the defendant] must have taken place in the garage. We do not suggest that [the defendant] provided the boys with the detailed list of what police might find in the house but that they were reminded that drugs were about and that [the defendant] would be the focus of police attention.”

“Why did the five boys carry Morgan Huelin 160 yards to the road? Why were all sorts of silly stories told to the public and to the police? It was all done to protect [the defendant].”

Because the Court proceedings have been opened, nothing that might lead to the identification of the defendants can be reported.

The case continues.