The jury in the trial of a teenager accused of murder has retired to consider its verdict.
The 16-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of the murder of Christopher McBurnie on May 29 of last year. Christopher was 14 at the time.
While the defendant has admitted inflicting the knife wounds that led to Christopher’s death in Ramsey, he has denied murder, saying he acted in self-defence and did not intend to cause harm.
Summing Up
This morning (October 22) Deemster Graeme Cook summed up the evidence given by the prosecution and defence teams during the four-week trial. He also issued directions to the jury, of seven men and five women, about how to reach their verdict.
Earlier this week, the Deemster said manslaughter could be considered as an alternative charge to murder.
Today’s recap covered the harrowing details of how what started out as a social media feud escalated into an arrangement to meet for a fight and a physical confrontation in Ramsey that resulted in the wounds that led to Christopher’s death.
The defendant’s team say his actions were in self-defence and he brought a knife to the confrontation as a deterrent, but the prosecution argues he intended to cause harm.
There is no time limit within which the jury must return a verdict.