Mum of tragic teenager tells murder trial she blames man he 'owed £180 for drugs' for his death
23.01.2024 - 18:15
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
The mother of a teenager found stabbed to death said she blames a man who he owed £180 for drugs for her son's death, a jury has heard. Callum Riley, 17, died after being stabbed at a property on Heywood's Darnhill estate.
Three men are on trial at Manchester Crown Court, accused of his murder. Tony Adams, 34, Dale Heywood, 26, and a 17-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons, have all pleaded not guilty. Callum Riley's mother Tracy Marsland gave evidence as the trial entered a second week.
Ms Marsland agreed that she doesn't 'like' Mr Adams and said she blames him for her son's death. Mr Riley was knifed in the leg in the doorway of Mr Adams’ home on Atholl Drive, at 5am on September 17, 2022.
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Prosecutors allege he was 'probably' stabbed by Mr Heywood. They argue Mr Riley was deliberately provoked after Mr Adams had allegedly 'assembled a crew of men' to attend Mr Riley's home in Heywood earlier that night, where windows were smashed just after midnight.
Jurors have heard around a year before the alleged murder, Mr Riley had owed Mr Adams £180 for cannabis. Prosecutors alleged Mr Adams and 'four heavies' later turned up at the home Mr Riley shared with his mother, his half-brother Nile Brown and his girlfriend Ella Yates, and 'stormed' into the property, demanding to know where Mr Riley was.
Ms Marsland said that she gave her son £100 to pay off the majority of the debt. She said that she understood the debt was 'finished' after her son had also been involved in a fight.
But Ms Marsland told jurors that at around 3am on September 16 last year, she returned after spending the evening with a friend to find the windows in her home had been