Murder trial of Connor Reece, accused of Lancaster stabbing, draws to a close

Lee Farrington, 29, suffered a cardiac arrest a short time after the attack, on August 27, and died the next morning during emergency surgery to try to repair his severed femoral artery.

A post mortem examination deemed it was caused by a “deliberate thrusting motion”.

Connor Reece, 24, of no fixed address, denies murder, but admits inflicting the injury, having mistakenly believed another man had been stabbed.

Reece’s girlfriend Danielle McCreery, 27, of no fixed address, and her father, Wayne McCreery, 46, from St Andrews Road, Stretford, Manchester, deny perverting the course of justice relating to allegations they assisted Reece to evade arrest.

The jury previously heard there had been a previous violent confrontation between Reece and a neighbour, Ciaran Currie, 11 days earlier, which had led to Reece, his girlfriend and Currie’s evictions from a multi occupancy property, Oak Tree House.

Mr Farrington and his friend Kadijah Omar also lived at the property.

On August 27, Mr Farrington, Miss Omar, and another man, Andrew Perry, went to an address on Tarnsyke Road to buy some cannabis, and it i alleged almost as soon as they arrived Connor Reece, who had two young men with him, walked over to them and asked where ‘Ciaran’ was.

Mr Farrington, who replied he didn’t know, was “cornered” in the communal area.

It is alleged Reece took a knife from his sock and suddenly stabbed him in the thigh, severing his femoral artery.

(proceeding)