unsolved-murders.co.uk
Unsolved Murders
Tags

Kevin Malthouse

Age: 24

Sex: male

Date: 1 Jul 2017

Place: Blackshots Lane, Grays, Essex

Kevin Malthouse was stabbed in the chest during a street fight in Blackshots Lane, Greys in the early hours of 1 July 2017.

Two men were tried for his murder but acquitted after claiming that they had acted in self-defence. It was said that they had killed Kevin Malthouse in a street brawl following an incident at the Treacle Mine Pub in which some car tyres were slashed. The man that had stabbed Kevin Malthouse never denied having done so, but said he had acted in self-defence.

Both of the men were tried for murder and manslaughter as well as three counts of GBH, but were acquitted on all counts.

Kevin Malthouse had been stabbed twice, with one stab wound piercing his heart.

The two men had been drinking earlier in the Treacle Mine Pub in Grays.

There were another group of people in the pub at the time, however, it was heard that there was bad feeling between the two groups because it was alleged that a friend of the two men had previously robbed one of the group and in return one of the friends was said to have previously threatened to rape the girlfriend and mother of one of the two men. The other group of men there were referred to generally as the Tilbury Boys at the trial.

The Tilbury Boys had been to a funeral at East Thurrock Football Club earlier in the day and it was heard that they had spent much of the evening in the Treacle Mine Pub insulting the other two men. However, it was heard that whilst in the pub the two groups were encouraged to sort out their differences and they were said to have shaken hands.

However, at the trial, one of the two men admitted that as he and his friend were leaving the pub that he got a screwdriver and punctured the tyres on a green Ford Fiesta car belonging to one of the Tilbury Boys before heading off.

It was heard then that when one of the Tilbury Boys found out that the tyres on his car had been 'popped' he called his father who told him to wait at the pub. The man's father, who had been drinking earlier in the day at Tilbury Football Club then arrived with a number of other men including Kevin Malthouse.

After the car tyres were slashed the police were called to the pub. In the meantime, the other of the two men that had slashed the tyes returned to the pub after having dropped the one that slashed the tyres off home, saying that when he saw the police there he left again.

At about the same time it was heard that a man had been assaulted in the car park by one of the Tilbury Boys group although they denied having assaulted anyone.

It was said that following that, that the Tilbury Boys group went off in several cars hunting for the car that the man that had slashed the car tyres had left in. The cars in the hunt, five of them, were described as having driven off in a convoy in the search. The father later said that they had only done so so that they could speak to the man and be reimbursed for the damage to the tyres.

The other two men, and another third man then met up again.

A few moments later there was an incident in Blackshots Lane which was caught on CCTV in which the five cars in convoy stopped and a black Fiesta car was seen to approach and then stop and reverse away as some men from the convoy of five cars got out armed with what appeared to be golfclubs and chase the black Fiesta. One of the men was seen to throw a golf club over a hedge and it was later recovered by the police.

It was noted that the Tilbury Boys had thought that the black Fiesta had contained the man that had slashed the car tyres but it actually belonged to another man who was friends with the man that had slashed the tyres.

However, moments later, the convoy of cars, which at that point was made up of three cars, encountered a car that contained the two men tried for murder. One of the two men said that one of the three cars pulled up in front of him, blocking his way, and that his windscreen was then smashed by someone with a golf club.

It was said then that the two men got out of the car, although at the trial they claimed that they were dragged out. The man that slashed the car tyres said that he then went to the back of the car and opened the boot and took out a black Hugo Boss holdall bag and that he and the other man then ran off. He said that he was then hit over the head and fell and that he then picked up a weapon that fell out of the bag that he had and started to defend himself with it, slashing about.

It was said at the trial that as a result of the man lashing out with the weapon that four men, including Kevin Malthouse, received stab wounds.

After that, it was heard that the two men went back to the car, in which a third man was in the back seat, and that they then drove off to the Lounge Bar in Chafford Hundred.

Witnesses that lived in Blackshots Lane said that they saw between 8 and 10 men fighting in the street and one woman said that she saw a double-headed axe lying on the ground near to where Kevin Malthouse was found.

Kevin Malthouse died at the scene and the other three men that had received head injuries were taken to Basildon Hospital where they all underwent surgery.

The man that slashed the tyres was treated by paramedics at the Lounge Bar in Chafford Hundred for a head injury, but told them that he had been assaulted in a nearby alleyway. He was also then taken to Basildon Hospital for treatment.

The other man said that after the incident that he drove off to Tilbury to try and find the father's car that had been involved to 'take down the numberplate', but after that he went to Basildon Hospital to see his friend where they were then arrested by the police.

At the trial the prosecution had said that the two men had arrived in the car with the third person in the back and had got out, armed, and attacked the group, and that in the minute or so that it had taken, four men were stabbed with Kevin Malthouse dying. The prosecution said that the men had used an axe and, or, a knife, in the attack.

One of the Tilbury Boys said, 'I grabbed him and there was a quick punch. It was a stab wound to my side, my abdomen. I was struggling to walk and I fell on the floor about three times, there was a lot of blood loss. Kevin Malthouse was on the floor. Kevin fell to the floor and the man ran past him back towards the Fiesta. He then chopped him (another man) down the guts. He went low like this. He was holding something big. It was too dark to see. The other man fell'.

The father said, 'Instead of Kevin being able to stop the argument it ended up like a fight. Kevin and the man fell on the floor and my son stepped back. I jumped out of my car and as I got to them they both jumped up. The man did run off but Kev took two paces and collapsed on the floor. As I turn him over I could see he was covered in blood. I started screaming 'he’s been stabbed he’s been stabbed!'. Then another man said he’s done me as well then my son, says he’s done me too'.

However, the defence said, 'You and the group that you were with had weapons and as soon as that Fiesta stopped you all jumped out of the car to attack the man that slashed the tyres. After getting hold of him he got away, got the bag and run up the road and you all chased him. He was brought down, hit over the head, and that’s why he turns with weapons in his hand as he is lashing out. It all happens so fast you didn’t even notice he had come into contact with you'.

The man that had slashed the tyres said, 'I remember being pulled down, I was being hit everywhere I tried to get up but I couldn’t they are just hitting my body everywhere. I was surrounded. That’s when my head got split open. I remember crawling and putting out my hand and that’s when I grabbed the knife with my right hand, it must have been when I dropped the bag. I think I lashed out, I was scared for my life. I thought I was going to die, I could feel the blood dripping down from the back of my head and it wasn’t stopping. I thought that was it. I just remember getting back into the car. I remember seeing a knife in my hand and there was blood on it'.

When the man was asked how he felt about having killed Kevin Malthouse, he said, 'It is something that is going to be with me for the rest of my life. I can’t tell what that feels like. It’s the most horrible thing to have to deal with. Every minute of every day and every minute of every night that will always be on my mind. I can’t tell you how sorry I am or how sad that makes me'.

The other man said, 'The first car comes towards me and it pulls across in front of my car. There were two more cars and they pulled across the road as if they were blocking the road. One guy jumped out of the car and was running towards my car with what I thought was a baseball bat. He smashed my windscreen. I saw two more people come from the front as well. I was panicking, I was scared'.

After the not guilty verdicts were heard, Kevin Malthouse's family shouted from the public gallery before storming out of the court.

Kevin Malthouse had lived in Stanford-Le-Hope and had played for Tilbury Football Club.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.