Jodie Chesney murder suspect ‘not willing to help police’, court hears

A man accused of murdering teenager Jodie Chesney told police he was “deeply saddened” by her death but then refused to answer officer questions, a court heard.

Manuel Petrovic – who is on trial for the murder of the 17-year-old – said her life had been “taken away in what seems to be an unprovoked attack”, jurors were told.

He did not name anyone he had been with on the night of Jodie’s death after telling police he had concerns about his “own safety and the safety of my family”, the Old Bailey heard.

Petrovic, 20, is one of four young people jointly accused of murdering the girl scout in northeast London on 1 March.

She was stabbed in the back as she sat with her boyfriend and a group of their friends in Amy’s Park in Harold Hill.

Prosecutors say she was an innocent victim caught up in a dispute between drug dealers.

Petrovic, who was arrested within days of Jodie’s death after his Vauxhall Corsa was linked to the scene, denied being involved in her murder and said his car had been stolen at knifepoint.

He told police he was “playing a no-comment interview” and gave investigators a short prepared statement.

Later, he made a longer statement, admitting owning the Corsa and having a mobile phone he used for selling cannabis.

He said: “I would like to say that I have no involvement in the murder of Jodie Chesney. I am deeply saddened by her death and feel for her friends and family.

“A young life has been taken away in what seems to be an unprovoked attack on an innocent girl who had her whole life ahead of her.”

He said people had gone to his house to look for him and refused to name anyone he had been with due to his “own safety and the safety of my family”.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC told jurors: “You may recall Petrovic’s claim to have been ‘deeply saddened’ by Jodie’s death. Nonetheless, Petrovic was not willing to help the police.

“He continued to make no comment until the police gave up asking questions.”

Petrovic along with 19-year-old Svenson Ong-a-Kwie and two youths, aged 16 and 17 who cannot be named, deny murder.

When police went to arrest Ong-a-Kwie at the hostel where he was living, they found a knife on top of a fridge in his room.

Mr Aylett said that while the murder weapon may have been disposed of, the discovery of another blade was “not without significance”.

Officers carried on their search for Ong-a-Kwie at another address in Dagenham, east London, jurors were told.

He was eventually caught after climbing out of a first-floor window and falling through the roof of a lean-to, Mr Aylett said.

Ong-a-Kwie allegedly told police: “Murder? I ain’t done a murder.”

The 17-year-old defendant, who cannot be named because of his age, was also arrested in the house’s back garden.

(c) Sky News 2019: Jodie Chesney murder suspect ‘not willing to help police’, court hears