Scarborough murder trial verdict: 5 men guilty over Solomon Robinson killing

Four men have been found guilty of murdering Scarborough man Solomon Robinson following a four-week trial. One had already admitted murder.
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Mr Robinson was fatally stabbed in the Scarborough Town Hall gardens where he collapsed in a pool of blood and later died from “catastrophic” bleeding.

Five men were charged with his murder, including 19-year-old Stefan Selvage, who pleaded guilty to the charge before the trial got under way last month.

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The four other men - Dawid Goral, 21, Callon Brass, 22, Kieran Watkinson, 19, and Stevie Low, 23 - were all found guilty today.

Solomon Robinson, and police tape at the murder scene.Solomon Robinson, and police tape at the murder scene.
Solomon Robinson, and police tape at the murder scene.

The jury, who had had deliberated for over six hours, were unanimous in their verdicts.

Despite Mr Robinson having been killed by just one fatal blow delivered by Selvage, the Crown Prosecution Service pursued murder charges against all five defendants because they had plotted to kill the 26-year-old and were all at the scene when he was stabbed in an ambush-style attack.

Prosecutor Tahir Khan QC said the gang had planned the “joint attack…from start to finish” after hatching the plot at a drug-and-weapons party at a flat on North Marine Road in the hours leading up to the horrific incident in the town hall gardens.

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The incident occurred just after 2am on October 20 2019, when Selvage followed Mr Robinson into the gardens on a bike, before dismounting and plunging a long-bladed knife into his back.

Mr Robinson staggered back towards the entrance and collapsed on the pavement, bleeding profusely and slipping in and out of consciousness. He was taken to hospital and given emergency surgery but died at about 5am – three hours after the attack.

The cause of death was “catastrophic” bleeding caused by a single, 11-inch-deep stab wound which almost pierced his entire body and severed a major artery.

The five gang members - who had all been taking drugs before the incident including MDMA, Ecstasy, cocaine and cannabis - were all either arrested or handed themselves in hours later.

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They were each charged with murder but made denials, lying to police about their involvement.

Selvage pleaded guilty at the 11th hour, but the others maintained their innocence. During the trial, some of the defendants turned evidence against their own pals as they tried to save their own skins.

They all denied carrying knives on the night in question, despite CCTV footage showing that at least two of them were carrying long-bladed weapons – one of them a machete which one witness said looked like a “sword”.

Three blades could be seen in the footage, which were “pulled out at the same time” as Mr Robinson entered the park, said Mr Khan.

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Following the guilty verdicts, Judge Martin Griffiths adjourned the case for sentence on February 19.

Brass, of Eastborough, Goral, of Durham Street, Low, of Longwestgate, Watkinson, of Endcliff Crescent, and Selvage, of Colescliffe Road, were remanded in custody until the sentence date.