Owen Dunn murder trial: Accused 'thought victim would attack him'

At Bristol Crown Court on Thursday, 18-year-old Tyler Hunt gave his account of the fatal stabbing near Mazurek Way on December 4, 2022.

He told his defence representative, Sarah Jones KC, that he and his fellow defendant – who is 15 and cannot legally be identified – were in North Swindon trying to sell cannabis to “anyone who looked like they smoked weed”.

Hunt explained he carried a machete in a sheath down his right trouser leg because he had been attacked and seen someone else stabbed when he was younger.

The weapon was, he said, solely for reassurance and his “intention was never to use it”, and he wore a balaclava out of habit.

Hunt added: “There is a big fear of knives. It was just in case a situation arose and I wanted to scare people away.

“I looked behind me out of paranoia and saw a male approach me, going very fast on a bike.

“His face was covered and I could see the outline of some sort of weapon on his right leg. My heart was racing, I was scared.

Owen Dunn (Image: Submitted)

“I realised I would not be able to get away and I thought he was going to attack me.

“I dropped my bike near the bus stop, pulled my machete out to scare him off, and held it towards my side.

“I put my left hand out to push him away. He swerved because of the push and then behind me, I heard a piercing noise, like the rip or tear of clothing.

“I turned and saw [the younger defendant] put his knife back into his sheath. The other man then crashed.

“It was a moment of panic.”

The court heard that the defendants fled the scene, hid in a wooded area, and were picked up by the mother of the younger one.

Hunt claims he did not know the identity of the third cyclist nor realise that Mr Dunn had been killed until the news circulated on social media.

He added: “I was traumatised and depressed, I could not sleep, I sold my knife because I did not anything to do with knives after seeing what happened.”

He faced cross-examination from prosecutor Michael Burrows KC, who wondered whether the accused had been deliberately searching for Mr Dunn on that day and had struck him with a knife, as reported by witnesses.

Hunt denied these suggestions: “That is not what happened. They had seen someone get stabbed so their minds were not in the best place.”

In one CCTV clip played to the court, the 15-year-old defendant stops to take a call and Hunt is seen looking at his fellow defendant's phone before they encounter Mr Dunn. But Hunt said he could not remember what the call had been about or why he might have taken an interest.

He said he could not recall what was said during the first call the younger defendant made while they hid in the woods after the confrontation, which was to the same number as the previous mystery call.

When a police constable visited Hunt, the defendant reportedly vomited after hearing Mr Dunn's name name, which Mr Burrows suggested happened out of guilt for his alleged role in his death.

Hunt denied this, saying: “I did not do anything wrong. It’s a situation I’d never been in before, someone had been killed, it’s left me traumatised. I did not want to be accused of a murder I did not do, I was scared.”

He says this was also why he did not say anything to police when a different youth was charged with Mr Dunn's murder, and why he originally lied to police about not being involved in the incident.

The trial continues.