A gang was hunting Swindon teen Owen Dunn days before he was murdered.

The 18-year-old died from a single stab wound to his heart caused by a machete on December 4 2022.

Two other teenagers, 18-year-old Tyler Hunt and an unnamed 15-year-old, were sentenced to a combined 31 years in prison for his murder in January this year after a jury unanimously found them guilty. 

During a trial, the guilty pair argued that they were acting in self-defence, but the prosecution suggested that they were hunting throughout the town for Owen, before eventually ambushing him at Mazurek Way in North Swindon. 

Now potential evidence has emerged showing a gang of youths attempting to attack Owen Dunn just days before. 

A former member of staff at JD Sports has spoken to the Advertiser about an altercation on November 28, which was reported to Wiltshire Police. 

They said: "A couple entered the store, the woman returned some trainers she had brought online. After the transaction had been processed, the couple shopped on women's footwear. Two staff were on the footwear department, and it wasn't busy. 

"A gang of youths who had been in town for the past few days walked past. This was something that wasn't new. They had been doing laps looking in the store for a few days. I remember this as I remember a jacket one youth wore. 

"Two of this gang of five entered, face covered, and they attacked the man with his girlfriend. One raised his arm in a stabbing motion but the object that he was using slid from his grasp and he dropped it.

"The second youth stood by, watching and looking out for his mate. Staff got involved, and I went over to see the two youths leaving. 

"The man who was with his partner walked past me towards the door on the phone saying 'They're going to stab me'. 

"I had already dialled 999 and staff were trying to keep the couple in store but they left."

They said that the police did arrive but the group had already left.

Officers did review the CCTV and they were given the address of the woman who was with the young man.

She spotted the same gang behind the attack in the store on December 3, searching the town centre. She called the police, but the gang had gone by the time officers arrived. 

Just a day later Owen Dunn was attacked and killed.

"He was a friend of some staff," they said, "I looked at pictures of him and it was the man that had been attacked at the store."

"After that, I spent a few days going through the CCTV. I watched that gang hunt, and stalk my store to see if Owen was there shopping. Every day they were around. Checking who was in my store.

"I started having nightmares, hearing Owen's comments of 'they are going to kill me, they will kill me anyway' played over and over in my head. 

"Now, the two youths who murdered Owen have been sent to prison but that still leaves the 3 that watched from the doorway and egged on their two mates to stab Owen in the store."

Wiltshire Police has confirmed that their investigation into Owen Dunn's death remains ongoing, but say they are currently unable to link what happened in JD Sports to his eventual murder.