'Laughing-gas' gathering at Leeds home led to brutal machete slaying, court hears
A gathering at a home where laughing gas was being passed around ended in a bloody machete murder, a court was told this week.
Saymore Kwashira was struck with such force during the brutal attack that the long blade severed part of his ear and skull.
Teenager Romaine James is on trial at Leeds Crown Court this week, charged with the bloody murder which took place at an address of Winrose Avenue, Belle Isle, in the early hours of November 11 last year.
James, who is 18 but was only 17 at the time, admits the killing but claims he was acting in self-defence after Mr Kwashira threatened him.
Opening the case for the Crown, Mark McKone KC said that Mr Kwashira - often known as “S” - was friends with the homeowner’s daughter and often stayed at the property.
James and others had gone to the property that night, claiming they were there to “chill” - to relax.
CCTV showed James outside the property before the killing with a balloon in his mouth which was filled with nitrous oxide - also known as laughing gas.
Made illegal in 2023 and categorised as a Class C drug, the gas gives the user a euphoric high if inhaled.
The jury was told that the defendant and the deceased, among others, were inhaling the gas leading up to the attack.
Mr McKone said the jury would hear from several witnesses during the trial, including one who said she entered the room to see James slashing at the 23-year-old victim, who then fell to the ground.
Another said they were all taking laughing gas and the victim was stood up before James pulled out the machete and attacked him.
Mr McKone said a third witness will give evidence that James said to the victim prior to the killing: “What are you chatting sh** about me for?”
The emergency services were called to the property at 12.17am. James had fled and was again caught on CCTV, this time holding a machete as he left.
The weapon was never found, along with the clothes he was wearing.
A pathologist’s report later concluded Mr Kwashira was stabbed twice - once in the stomach, and once to the neck.
The neck wound had severed part of his ear and part of the base of the skull.
The stab wound to the abdomen ruptured two major blood vessels, proving fatal. Almost two litres of blood had collected in his abdominal cavity.
James, of Reginald Mount, Potternewton, handed himself into the police station 19 days after the killing.
He was accompanied by his mother and gave a mainly no-comment interview.
Mark McKone said that James accepts killing Mr Kwashira, but did so in self-defence and that Mr Kwashira started the violence after threatening to rob him.
Mr McKone said: “The prosecution say that this was not self-defence at all.
“The prosecution say that James attacked him when S was using no violence towards James.
“The prosecution say that anyone stabbing someone deep into the stomach with a machete and striking them with force to the neck must have intended to kill or to cause really serious harm.”
The trial continues and is expected to last five days.