A 17-year-old guy was stabbed to death on a packed dance floor during a party, and the adolescent who did it was found guilty of his murder.
On July 23, 2018, Charlie Cosser was stabbed three times in the chest during the outdoor BalFest event, which drew over 100 attendees to a farmhouse in Warnham, West Sussex.
After a trial at Brighton Crown Court, the 17-year-old defendant—who was 16 at the time of the attack—will be sentenced to life in prison.
On Tuesday, he was unanimously found guilty of both Charlie’s murder and possessing a bladed article.
Charlie’s family members, who were there in court each day, sobbed and embraced during the announcement of the verdicts.
The trial heard that after the defendant and his friends were asked to leave the party, a brawl broke out on the dance floor involving the defendant, Charlie, and two other lads.
Part of the violence was caught on camera by a partygoer who started recording her companions dancing to Britney Spears’ “Toxic” under the marquee’s disco lights.
Prosecutor Alan Gardner KC opened the case on May 13 by saying, “Those in the vicinity were unaware of his use of the knife and blows with it due to the darkness and noise of a crowded dance floor.”
As they approached one other on the dance floor, “the defendant stabbed Charlie Cosser with that knife.”
Numerous partygoers who were witnesses testified before the jury that evening.
The defendant’s buddy claimed that the adolescent had consumed a “excessive amount” of vodka and seemed “angry” after an older guy had made an unsuccessful attempt to forcibly remove him from the party due to his apparent conduct towards a young woman.
The defendant and others began fighting, according to the witness, after she heard “arguing” and “shouting” within the marquee.
Subsequently, the young man discovered the defendant “covered in blood” on his hands and trousers by the road.
He testified in court that “the top of his joggers down to his knees were almost like drenched.”
He and an other acquaintance of the accused claimed to have overheard the adolescent declare, “I’ve stabbed someone.”
As she walked up to a man in a hi-vis who was serving as security, Harriet West and other partygoers reported seeing a youngster who they thought was Charlie laying on the ground.
“He had blood all over his chest and he wasn’t wearing a T-shirt,” she stated.
“I just walked away. The man wearing the hi-vis was bending over.
According to testimony given in court, Charlie was able to provide the police with his name, address, and birthdate while he was still conscious when they arrived at 12.30 am.
While en route to the hospital, he experienced a cardiac arrest due to internal bleeding stemming from a cut to his aorta, the main artery leading from the heart.
Two days later, the adolescent from Milford, Surrey, also known as “Cheeks,” passed away.
Jurors were informed that tests on bloodstains on the defendant’s sneakers revealed the bloodstains were actually his own after he was arrested.
The defendant acknowledged to the court that he set fire to the party clothing he was wearing because, according to him, they were stained with his own blood in the garden firepit.
The prosecution claimed that the adolescent’s left hand injury occurred during the act of stabbing Charlie with the knife.
The knife is still missing.
The young person refrained from testifying during the trial, although they did not admit to killing Charlie or possessing a weapon.
On July 28, 2018, he made his initial appearance at Lewes Crown Court and entered a guilty plea to murder. However, he was successful in his application to withdraw his guilty plea, which allowed the trial to proceed before he was sentenced.
In the past, Charlie’s family praised their brother and most loving, cheeky, and compassionate kid for having a “ridiculously silly sense of humour.”
Charlie’s Promise is a charity that has been established in his memory to combat knife crime in Surrey and the United Kingdom.
On June 19, the defendant will get a sentence.
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