A CARLISLE Crown Court murder jury has been shown CCTV footage of the moments when 24-year-old Ryan Kirkpatrick was fatally stabbed.

The video evidence was shown to the court on day two of the trial as the prosecution presented its case against the two men accused of murdering Mr Kirkpatrick on the evening of September 18 last year in Carlyle’s Court in the city centre.

Kane Hull, 29, of no fixed abode, and 33-year-old Liam Porter, of Fulmar Place, Carlisle, deny murder and manslaughter.

For more than an hour, Detective Constable Jim Gorrill guided the court through video footage which the prosecution says is part of the evidence that will help to prove the guilt of the two defendants.

The first section of evidence covered CCTV images that were recorded by cameras at the Royal Scot pub in Morton, Carlisle, in the hours before Mr Kirkpatrick was stabbed.

Just before 7.30pm, Liam Porter is seen being driven away from the pub in an Audi car but a little over ten minutes later he returns.

Footage from the pub’s outside smoking area was then shown to the jury. Recorded after Porter had returned to the Royal Scot, it showed Hull sitting at a bench, chatting to a woman while Porter was speaking to somebody on his mobile.

Just Before 8pm, a camera covering the front of the pub shows Hull and Porter leaving, getting into a blue Volvo with a spoiler on its boot lid.

The car also has distinctive 14-spoke silver alloy wheels, and one black wing mirror, while the second one was silver. At 8.24pm, according to city centre video footage, the same car - identifiable because of its distinctive alloy wheels and spoiler - arrives at St Mary’s Gate, outside the entrance to Carlyle’s Court.

The jury were then shown video of what the prosecution say was the first of two encounters that night between Mr Kirkpatrick and Kane Hull.

Shortly before this, the court heard, Porter was filmed walking into Carlyle’s Court. The CCTV shows him walking past Mr Kirkpatrick, who is standing outside Mamoa Bar with friends, chatting.

Porter then goes into the bar, where he makes a phone call and leaves.

The following video clip shows Hull and Porter, say the prosecution, walking into Carlyle’s Court. Hull is seen to pick up a glass from a table, empty it and then, said DC Gorrill, walk towards Mr Kirkpatrick, who was still with friends outside Mamoa Bar.

Mr Kirkpatrick is seen backing away.

Another camera angle from within Carlyle’s Court shows Hull being “pinned” into a corner by bystanders who had intervened, the court heard. Porter, meanwhile, is seen standing a short distance away, with his arms outstretched.

After a brief pause in proceedings to allow some members of the public in the court’s public gallery to leave, prosecutor Tim Evans asked DC Gorrill to guide the jury through the next video clip, which depicted the 30 second encounter during which Mr Kirkpatrick was fatally stabbed by a masked and hooded figure in front of shocked onlookers.

The attacker, his face covered by a hood and a mask, is seen running up to Mr Kirkpatrick and lunging towards him. The knifeman then briefly steps back, lifting his mask to reveal his face to the victim.

Next, the knifeman runs again towards Mr Kirkpatrick and again pulls down his mask, momentarily revealing his face. A second male – also hooded and masked – is seen standing nearby as this happens.

Some footage shows onlookers rushing to help Mr Kirkpatrick. The next video clip, recorded seconds later, shows the two masked men running from Carlyle’s Court on to Fisher Street, one still clearly holding the knife in his right hand.

As they flee, the hood worn by the man with the knife momentarily slips off, exposing the man’s head an part of his face. It also exposed Kane Hull’s "distinctive balding head", Mr Evans told the jury.

In earlier evidence, Mr Evans outlined events after the fatal stabbing. Referring to the phone calls allegedly made by the defendants, the prosecutor said there will be evidence of calls and messages from Hull to a man he knows. 

One of those calls, the jury heard, summoned that man from the bar he was in so that he could help the two defendants.

Referring to phone records, Mr Evans said: “You are seeing[the man known to Hull] being summoned later that night to assist.” The man has sent instructions for a meeting at Carlisle Airport, said the prosecutor.

“Shortly after midnight, into the early hours of September 19,” said Mr Evans, “a white vehicle is seen in the Smithfield area by a witness. Smithfield is just a few miles away from Carlisle Airport.”

A witness saw "burning items" being thrown out of a white Shogun type car there at around midnight.

The man was the owner of a white car. Of the burning items thrown from the car, Mr Evans said this was a case of “incriminating items connecting them [the defendants] to the murder being got rid of.” 

The jury also heard evidence of how a woman called Olivia Memmory, 22, helped arrange alternative accommodation for the defendants in the hours and days after the stabbing. By the afternoon of September 19, the court heard, Hull was in Newcastle.

He twice called a law firm there, the last call lasting five minutes and 43 seconds.

The evidence showed that Hull and Porter initially stayed at River View Holiday Park in Newcastleton and then at Alston. 

The defendants then took a ferry from Stranraer to Northern Ireland, spending a night in Belfast. They travelled from there on to the Republic of Ireland.

When they were arrested, the court heard, Kane Hull was “hiding in an attic.” Police also found that the defendants had "a shopping list". The final items listed on it were: “hair dye, glasses, hat/wig, masks, and Munchies”.

After Mr Evans concluded his opening for the prosecution, the jury heard for the first time from counsel for the two defendants. 

Toby Hedworth KC, for Hull, said: “It is accepted that Kane Hull was involved in the incident involving Ryan Kirkpatrick at Carlyle’s Court at around 8.31pm on September 18, 2021.

"It is denied that Kane Hull was present at Carlyle’s Court at around 8.47pm on that evening or that he was in any way involved in inflicting violence on Ryan Kirkpatrick.

“It is accepted that at that time, fearing that he would be wrongly accused of inflicting violence on Ryan Kirkpatrick, Kane Hull thereafter took steps to avoid arrest.”

Liam Walker KC, for Porter, told the jury: “The presence of Mr Porter at the first incident is accepted. His presence at the second incident is not accepted.

"It is not accepted that the second male present at Carlyle’s Court encouraged or assisted the person to stab Ryan Kirkpatrick. Lastly, it is not accepted that the second male present at Carlyle’s Court intended that the stabber would kill or at least cause really serious harm.”

The trial will resume on Monday morning.