Two men have gone on trial accused of murdering a man in a gruesome machete attack inside a woman’s York bedsit.
Jobie Tyers, 28, and his co-accused, who can’t be named for legal reasons at this stage, allegedly attacked Indrit Mustafaj with the long-bladed combat weapon after bursting into the woman’s home in Vyner Street, near Haxby Road, a jury at Leeds Crown Court heard.
Mr Mustafaj, a suspected drug dealer, suffered multiple injuries and later died from a fatal stab wound to his thigh which pierced a major artery.
John Harrison KC, opening the case for the prosecution yesterday (Monday), said that Mr Mustafaj was visiting the named York woman’s ground-floor flat when the fatal stabbing occurred on 23 November, 2024.
“It is said that he was at the property to deal in drugs,” added Mr Harrison.
He said it appeared that the York woman and a named man who was also present were also involved in drug dealing.
They were about to leave the bedsit at about 7.15pm when Tyers and his cohort, both with their faces masked, burst into the property and attacked Mr Mustafaj, the other named man and the woman.
Mr Mustafaj, from Bradford, was stabbed several times and the other two victims were also seriously hurt.
“(Mr Mustafaj) suffered a fatal injury when he was stabbed through the femoral artery and later died of his wounds,” said Mr Harrison.
“It is the prosecution’s case that both defendants intentionally participated in the attacks on all three victims, including the fatal attack on Mr Mustafaj.”
He added, however, that the prosecution was unable to pinpoint which of the two defendants was the main aggressor and who delivered the fatal blow to Mr Mustafaj.
“The prosecution is unable to attribute different roles to each defendant,” said Mr Harrison.
“We simply say that these were joint attacks carried out together.”
Admitted robbery
Tyers and his co-defendant, both from York, are each charged with murdering Mr Mustafaj, but both deny the allegation.
They were also each charged with robbing Mr Mustafaj of money, which Tyers admitted but his co-accused denied.
In addition, they each deny intentionally causing grievous bodily harm to the other named man and the female tenant.
Mr Harrison told the jury that Tyers, from Gate Helmsley, had admitted going to the flat with the intention of robbing Mr Mustafaj of cash but denied participating in the violence.
Tyers’ co-defendant denies any involvement in the robbery, nor any intention to rob Mr Mustafaj.
“(The co-defendant) says Jobie Tyers was the one who carried out an unexpected, unplanned outburst of violence,” said Mr Harrison.
“Both defendants accept being present at the scene but blame each other for the violence that took place.”
The prosecutor said that two vehicles “of significance” could prove pivotal in the trial – a grey Peugeot driven by the co-defendant and a white Vauxhall linked to Tyers.
The Peugeot driven by Tyers’ co-accused was captured on CCTV parking up outside a property next-door to the murder scene in Viner Street and at the Monks Cross retail park on the day in question.
CCTV captured the Peugeot entering the Monks Cross shopping centre and Tyers’ co-accused going into the Decathlon shop where he bought a “significant” amount of clothes which were later recovered by police.
The prosecution says the clothing items are forensically linked to the murder through the DNA of both the defendants and Mr Mustafaj whose blood was found on the back seat of the Peugeot.
The machete, which the prosecution says was used in the fatal attack, was later found sticking out of leafy debris in a skip in Vine Street opposite the bedsit.
Murder weapon
A post-mortem revealed that Mr Mustafaj died from a stab wound to his right thigh. He also suffered two knife wounds to his other thigh, a knife wound to the back of his knee and “deep” lacerations, described as “defensive wounds”, to his hands.
The female tenant suffered cuts and bruising but didn’t seek medical attention. The other male victim was taken to hospital after suffering a broken thigh bone and stab wounds to his buttocks.
Mr Harrison said it was the prosecution’s case that the machete was the murder weapon which could be forensically linked to both defendants.
Defence barrister Sam Green KC, for Tyers, claimed that his client was at the bedsit simply “for the purpose of supporting (his co-accused)” in the planned robbery but that he didn’t intend nor mete out any violence.
Asleigh Metcalfe, for Tyers’ co-accused, said that it wasn’t her client who wielded the machete.
The trial continues.
