Jack Frew murder trial: Teenager ‘fought for his life as he was stabbed 20 times’

A PATHOLOGIST told a murder trial that schoolboy Jack Frew was stabbed 20 times and his throat was slit from side to side.

Dr Robert Ainsworth was giving evidence at the trial of 19-year-old Craig Roy, accused of murdering the 16-year-old from East Kilbride.

The jury heard that Jack, a fifth-year pupil at Duncanrigg High School, may have fought back as he was stabbed.

Roy has admitted stabbing Jack to death in a wooded area in East Kilbride on 6 May, 2010, but denies it was murder.

The court heard that Jack had a slash injury to four fingers on his right hand and that this could have been inflicted as he tried to defend himself.

Dr Ainsworth told advocate depute Jennifer Bain, prosecuting: “It is a sharp injury to four fingers. It is possible that he was trying to grab the knife.”

Ms Bain added: “Is this an injury that could be described as defensive?” He replied: “Yes.”

The High Court in Glasgow heard that one of the stab wounds to Jack’s neck cut through the carotid artery and the jugular vein and that he could have died from that injury alone.

Dr Ainsworth told jurors that in the attack, Jack’s liver was cut, his ribs were nicked and both lungs collapsed.

He said the slash injury to Jack’s neck, which was more than 6in long, had cut his windpipe. The court was told that Jack, who was 5ft 6in tall and weighed 7.5 stone, suffered a massive blood loss.

Dr Ainsworth was asked how long the boy could have survived after the knife attack, and he replied: “A few minutes.”

Jack’s family left the room after the judge, Lord Doherty, warned them of the “descriptive” nature of the evidence they would hear.

Roy sat with his head in his hands as the pathologist told the court about the injuries.

Dr Ainsworth was asked if while the injuries were being inflicted Jack could have shouted out or fought back. He said: “Yes. He may have for a short time.”

Dr Ainsworth was shown a photograph of the knife recovered from the wooded area adjacent to Wellelsley Crescent and Mossneuk Road, East Kilbride, and asked if that could have inflicted the injuries, and he said: “Yes.”

Dr Gerard Murphy, a police casualty surgeon who carried out checks on the accused teenager days after the alleged murder, was asked if he looked for anything regarding Roy’s “psychiatric wellbeing”.

Dr Murphy said there was “no acute psychiatric problem”.

The court heard that Roy had told the GP he used to scratch and punch himself to “relieve anger and stress”.

Forensic scientist Marie Campbell told the court that she had examined the bloodstained clothing worn by the accused on 6 May, 2010, and found that the contact blood and blood spatter contained the DNA of Jack Frew.

Ms Campbell said the chance of it being anyone else’s DNA was one in a billion.

She was asked by Ms Bain: “Would that be consistent with the wearer repeatedly stabbing at Jack Frew?” She replied: “If Jack Frew was bleeding, yes.”

She added that Roy would have had to be in close proximity to Jack when he was bleeding.

Ms Campbell also examined the knife found at the scene and said it contained a mixture of DNA, adding: “The major DNA was from Craig Roy and there were traces of DNA from Jack Frew, and [it] would support an assertion that it had injured both Craig Roy and Jack Frew.”

The trial continues.