ONE of the first police officers to arrive at the scene of a fatal stabbing in Carlisle city centre found distressed people, “shouting, crying, screaming, and angry.”

There were sustained efforts to save 24-year-old Ryan Kirkpatrick after he was stabbed by a masked man as he stood chatting to friends in Carlyle’s Court in the city centre on September 18 last year, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Kane Hull, 29, and Liam Porter, 33, deny murder and manslaughter.

As day four of the trial began, prosecutor Kim Whittlestone gave the jury further eyewitness accounts of the tragedy, which happened as Mr Kirkpatrick socialised with friends after a Christening at Wreay village.

PC Anthony Cropley was one of the first officers called to the scene following reports of a stabbing in Carlyle’s Court at around 8.45pm.

The officer said: “As I have come into the courtyard, I was met by a large group of persons in extreme distress, shouting, crying, screaming and angry.

“I observed a male covered in blood, lying motionless outside of the hairdressers at the scene where a female was carrying out CPR.” One of his colleagues took over the attempt to resuscitate Mr Kirkpatrick and PC Cropley checked his pulse.

He was getting nothing from the pulse, he said.

The officer continued: “I have shortly taken over from PC Russell and started carrying out CPR on the male, and while I was carrying out this, PC Proud and other colleagues started to arrive as well as a paramedic crew.”

A paramedic then took over the CPR. A short time later, doctor and paramedic from the Great North Air Ambulance arrived and began working on Mr Kirkpatrick as PC Cropley used a blanket to shield the victim from public view.

Mr Kirkpatrick was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

Witness Kyra Graham had gone with friends to the Medusa Restaurant in Carlyle’s Court, with a table booked for 8pm; and she had a good view of the courtyard, the jury heard. There was a large group of people in the courtyard and there was shouting throughout the evening, she said. 

Miss Graham said: “My attention was drawn particularly when I heard people shout “Stop” Stop!" She believed there had been a fight, though she herself did not see any physical fighting.

“I could just see a group of people pushing and shouting. I believe there were a couple of females pushing the males to get them to stop… It soon seemed to calm down.”

Miss Graham described what happened 15 or 20 minutes later.

She said: “I have been constantly looking out of the window, as I have I have witnessed male 1 run into the courtyard from the archway, which is opposite the restaurant; I have seen him run towards the bar area within the courtyard.

“He has run up to male 2 where he was stood with a group of people. I believe male 2 has been unaware of male 1’s presence. I was still sat within the restaurant at this time. I had a good view of male 2… I have witnessed male 1 run up to male 2 and stab him with some sort of blade in the back of male 2.”

She then heard a lot of screaming, with people shouting: “He’s just been stabbed.” She then saw the attempts by a blonde female to give Mr Kirkpatrick CPR.

Yet more witnesses made statements about what they saw outside Carlyle’s Court both before and after the fatal stabbing. Daniel Turner had driven into the city centre with two friends to collect a takeaway meal.

He recalled pulling on to Market Street at 8.46pm and parking on the road’s junction with Fisher Street. While he waited there, he saw a blue saloon car speed past him on his right and then turn left, the wrong way into Fisher Street.

The car passed the entrance to Carlyle’s Court, turned into St Mary’s Gate, reversed and then pulled up outside Carlyle’s Court, so it faced the right way on the one-way street. About one minute later, he said, he believed he saw the same vehicle speeding off down Fisher Street.

He did not see who was in the blue car. “The only reason I noticed the vehicle was due to the driver’s erratic driving,” he said.

The jury also heard evidence from a Clive Evans, a forensic imagery analyst, who prepared a report on CCTV images from Carlyle’s Court, comparing the images of the defendants recorded in the first incident that night with those of the two masked men who prosecutors say were involved in the fatal stabbing.

Giving his conclusion, Mr Evans said: “Overall, in my opinion, the imagery lends weight to the contention that Mr Porter and subject Y [said to be present at the stabbing incident] are the same person and that Mr Hull and subject X [also said to be present at the stabbing incident] are the same person."

He said the alternative scenario was that subjects X and Y were different people to Porter and Hull "who are coincidentally observed associating with each other and exhibiting physical and clothing similarities to each other."

Questioned by defence counsel for defendants, the analyst agreed it was not appropriate to say he could “definitively” conclude that Hull and Porter as seen in the first incident were the same people as the two males recorded by the CCTV cameras during the stabbing incident.

The trial continues.