Today the prosecution called its last few witnesses. The first was Paul Meakin, who claims to have been a friend of Peter Knowles for about 10 years. He has also known John Campion since they were children. In his original police statements Paul testified that Peter had told him he was present during the assault on Brian Farmer. Peter said he had punched Brian and broken his nose, but that was all he did. He said that the others present during the assault were Lisa Clarke, John Campion and a young kid whose name he didn't know. He made no mention of anyone called Jason or A.J. When questioned by the prosecutor Paul frequently contradicted his earlier statement or said he had forgotten what had been said because it was so long ago. The prosecution evidently intends to use Paul Meakin's testimony as proof of Peter Knowles' participation in the assault, but the defence lawyers accused him of conferring with Lisa Clarke and John Campion before his police interview and being advised what to say. In particular, Mr. Lynch (Peter Knowles' lawyer) accused Paul of fabricating most of the story.
A resident of Bateman House, the block of flats where Brian lived, testified to having seen a young man in a blue shirt throwing a stereo system and small ornaments from the balcony of Brian's room on May 5th 2012. When she complained the young man used abusive language towards her. When cross-examined she insisted that this young man was the only person throwing items.
The ex-partner of Lisa Clarke's father testified to an incident that happened when Lisa came to visit her father. She came to the door and asked if she could borrow money from him. When he said no Lisa got angry and attacked her father, punching him, knocking him on the floor and kicking him. She was wearing a knuckleduster to assist her punches. In cross-examination Lisa Clarke's lawyer suggested that this event never happened, because there was no proof from any other sources.
Jason Andrews' sister testified that even though she sometimes argued with her brother he had never struck her. This was contradicted by Lisa Clarke's lawyer, who presented reports that she had called the police twice after he had attacked her. After this proof was provided she changed her testimony. A knife was presented to the court that had been found in her flat. She said it was not hers and could only have been left there by Jason.
A summary of Peter Knowles' police interview was read. In it he denied knowing Paul Meakin. He declined to answer almost every other question.
This concludes the presentation of the prosecution's case. Tomorrow the defence lawyers will present their cases, one by one.
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