What happened on Wednesday, August 24, 2005

11.00-11.30am (approx.): Robert Darby and his friend Paul Hunt left the flat in Chadwell Heath Lane, where Hunt was living with his then girlfriend Emma Ross. Darby drove them in his black BMW 3 series towards Gants Hill, where they intended to meet Martin Power. There was talk of meeting in The Gants Hill Café in Cranbrook Road. 

According to Lindon Martin, another friend of Darby who was also present at the flat with Rob on the Tuesday night (Aug 23), this arrangement to meet was made between Hunt and Power – after a series of heated conversations involving Darby and Power. Darby told witnesses he was owed money by Power and he became increasingly desperate for this debt to be settled.

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11.43 Karen Holeyman, about to open Hobnobs bar, calls her sister Terrie Beales, who was at home in Wanstead: Holeyman tells Beales that a very agitated Darby is at, or has just been to, the bar again causing a commotion, making threats and demanding to see Power.

11.43-11.45am (phone call duration: 2 minutes, 21 seconds): Darby phoned his friend Derek Coveley. According to Coveley, he agreed to lend Darby £500 and they arranged to meet on the Isle of Dogs – where Darby lived – "in an hour".

11.47.23am Terrie Beales calls Martin Power (1m 29s): This call is pivotal. Not only did it seriously undermine Jason Moore's defence, it led trial judge Nicholas Hilliard QC to add an extra three years to his sentence.

 
Power was driving him and Jason along Cranbrook Road in his silver BMW 6 series towards Barkingside, where they intended to play sport or have a sauna at Redbridge Sports Centre. Then Terrie Beales called Power to tell her boyfriend about threats Darby had made in her bar, Hobnobs, the night before and again when he returned there just minutes before she made this call. Moore (wrongly) assumed from Power’s furious reaction to what Beales was saying that Darby had just threatened her in person. 

In fact, it was Beales' sister Karen Holeyman, who was managing the bar for her on this morning, who phoned Terrie at 11.43 to tell her about an irate Darby returning to Hobnobs. Cell site logs proved that Terrie phoned Power from her home address, some two miles away.

Judge Hilliard decided that Jason had lied about the nature of Beales’ call, because she wasn’t at the bar at the time she phoned Power at 11.47,

 
But Darby most certainly was.

11.49.55-57am: CCTV footage showed Darby's BMW turning from Cranbrook Road into Bramley Crescent. According to Paul Hunt, they then turned RIGHT into Perth Road, towards Ley Street. At some point Darby did a U-turn and headed back in the direction of Gants Hill towards The Valentine pub, where they stopped abruptly in the middle of the road. Hunt: "Rob said he wanted to pop round someone's house to look for a car. I remember we slowed down in the Gants Hill area." Hunt claims Darby got out and said: “I won't be a minute” before walking off.

11.50am (approx): CCTV footage inside Pizza King (now Pizza Go-Go) at Gants Hill roundabout captured the legs and feet of Darby walking from Perth Road in the direction of Hobnobs (a very short stroll that would have taken him no more than a couple of minutes). The shutter blinds at the front of the shop were pulled two-thirds of the way down but police officers who viewed the tape confirmed it was Darby walking past. 

The call from Holeyman and the above CCTV revelation prove that trial judge Nicholas Hilliard was wrong to say that Jason had lied about Darby visiting Hobnobs minutes before he was stabbed.

Enraged by what Beales had just told him, Power did a U-turn in Cranbrook Road and drove back towards Gants Hill roundabout. Just before the roundabout, he stopped at a public call box.

11.50.30am Power calls Darby from public phone box in Cranbrook Road (31s): Power says it was in this call that he hastily arranged to meet Darby in the next few minutes. After finishing the call and getting back in his car, a clearly angered Power cursed as he told Moore: "I ain't having it. I ain't having him terrorising Terrie. I ain't having him scream at Terrie."

As a furious Power drove off in the direction of Gants Hill roundabout, Jason asked him: "What's happened there?" Power replied: "I'm going to meet him, I'm going to have words with him. I ain't standing for it."

In his trial evidence, Power claimed he had agreed to meet Darby – alone – at the cafe next door to Hobnobs, the same place they had met the previous Monday, where he intended to hand over the money that would pay for Darby's proposed holiday to Thailand. Power said he intended to park his car in Perth Road, a short walk from the cafe, and leave Jason in the vehicle while he went to deal with Darby.

Jason: "I just couldn't believe it. I have a horse to back in the afternoon, I want to go racquetball and have a nice . . . you know, it's a major headache for me. I understand his point of view but Darby's obviously off his head. I thought we all just needed to calm down. I said something to Martin along the lines of: 'What are you driving yourself mad for? You know, the geezer's off his head. You ranting and raving. He's been driving me mad for two months but I've had to keep me cool. So now just keep your cool."

Asked in court by his defence barrister David Howker QC about the horse he had backed, Jason explained: "Yes, in the morning I made a bet on a horse that was running about 3.00 that afternoon and I had to be back (home) for that race. I want to play some sport but, instead, I'm behind schedule, and it was important I get back for this race. I'd been waiting a long time for this horse to run."

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Years later, Jason recalled that he probably wagered around £25,000 on the horse to win, hence his interest in the outcome of the race.

11.50-11.55am: After arriving on a Central Line Underground train at Gants Hill station, eyewitness Abdul Ahmed walked from the roundabout along Perth Road while looking for the offices of Welcome Finance, where he had an appointment. Their office entrance was located at street level, just above the steps leading down to the station, but somehow he missed it and found himself walking in the rain towards The Valentine pub, which was to his right as he moved along the pavement.

11.52-53am (approx): CCTV (timed inaccurately at 11.56.35) showed Power's BMW turning left from Cranbrook Road into Bramley Crescent. He then turned left again into Perth Road. Power parked against the kerb outside the last in a row of five terraced houses situated just before The Valentine pub, which was 10 yards or so further along on the left. Although the exact timing on the CCTV footage is inaccurate (it has to be later than real time, because eyewitness Sally Palmer's 999 call is logged at 11.55.38), it does confirm that the car carrying Power and Moore turned into Bramley Crescent SEVEN MINUTES AFTER Darby's BMW.

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Jason, who had never seen Darby's car before the incident, recalls: "I always thought we got there first. At first I didn't see the black BMW. We pulled up and then it was there instantly, on top of us, in a matter of seconds."

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Did Darby park up in Perth Road, wait for Power's car to come into view and then drive up to it from behind, 'boxing' Power's car in?  

Jason adds: "Darby gets out of his car and Martin gets out of our car. There was nothing in it. They both got out quickly."

David Howker, defending Jason, asked his client: "Could you at the moment that Darby gets out of his car see whether he's got anything in his hands?"

Jason: "He got out quick and he sort of stood back like he had something, or he's holding something at the side, but he got out and then he stopped.

"Martin flies out the car. He's yelling at him, at the top of his voice, but his hands are all over the place. They're both yelling at each other. Martin goes towards Darby and I remember looking up. Rob's eyes look like they are bulging out of his head, like a wild man.

"As Martin continued towards Rob, that's when Rob raised his right hand high in the air and slashed at Martin with this knife."

Judge Hilliard: "He slashed at Martin with a bright yellow knife in his hand?"

Howker: "Just pausing there, could you see whether he made contact or not?"

Jason: "No, I couldn't say for sure. Because as he slashed and Martin slipped over . . . Rob came down on top of Martin."

Howker: "So what, Martin's on the floor?"

Jason: "Yes."

Howker: "Can you see him?"

Jason: "No."

Howker: "Why can't you see him?"

Jason: "Because the cars are in the way. The door of the front car, it's in the way, I can't see, I'm in the passenger seat and they're on the floor behind that . . . behind the door."

Howker: "Was the door on the black BMW open?"

Jason: "Yes, both doors were open."

Howker: "So you can't see. What can you hear?"

Jason: "Martin's screaming for help: 'Help me, help me', something like that."

Howker: "What do you do?" 

Jason: "I've got to get out of the car. I'm worried. I thought something terrible had happened to Martin. I got out the passenger seat and run round to the front of the car. And as I run round to the front of the car just to get to where they're at, Rob's up and running."

Howker: "And running away, was it?"

Jason: "Running away."

Howker: "What did you do?"

Jason: "Well, I didn't know how badly injured Martin was and Rob's running down the road. I thought I'd run after him for a bit, get him out the way, then go back and help Martin."

Howker: "And when you say 'get Rob out of the way' or 'get him out of the way', what do you mean?"

Jason: "Well, get him out of the way because he's off his head. I don't want to be leaning over Martin, helping him, and him come up behind me, hit me, or attack me, so I thought get him out of the way, then I can help Martin."

Howker:  "So what happened? You chase him a bit?"

Jason: "As I chase him, we only go about 10/15 yards and he falls over."

Howler: "So what do you do?"

Jason: "When he falls over I could see he's hurt. So I turned round and I walk back towards the silver BMW."

Howker: "And where is Martin?" 

Jason: "Martin's now getting up. He's sort of dusting himself off and he's in conversation with Paul Hunt."

Howker: "Paul Hunt being the passenger in the . . . "
 

Jason: "Paul Hunt's sitting right there."

Howker: "You didn't know it was Paul Hunt at that stage?

Jason: "I didn't know. Never seen him before in my life."

Howker: "And are you walking back to the silver BMW, or are you running there?"

Jason: "Not running, just walking."

Judge Hilliard: "Where was Paul Hunt – did you say sitting in the . . . ?"

Jason: "He was just sitting in the black BMW, sitting there."

Howker: "So what happens next?"

Jason: "He (Power) is pointing at Paul Hunt, gesticulating, I don't know what he was saying to him but the last words I heard from Hunt as I got in the car is: 'Yes Mart, yes Mart', something like that."

Howker: "Did you get back to the BMW and get in it?"

Jason: "Yes."

Howker: "Did Martin Power get into the BMW?"

Jason: "Yes."

Howker: "You in the passenger seat?"

Jason: "Yes."

Howker: "Did he drive off?"

Jason: "Yes."

Howker: "Immediately?"

Jason: "Yes."

Howker: "What can you say about Martin Power? What sort of state was he in?"

Jason: "He was in a bit of shock. And I'm pretty sure . . . from memory he put a bit of white cloth or a towel he was holding on his ear.

Howker: "Why is he doing that?"

Jason: "Because he's been nicked by the Stanley knife. The Stanley knife had caught him – he said he'd been caught on the ear."

Howker: "Is he bleeding as a . . .?"

Jason: "Yes, there's blood there, yes."

Howker: "Now when you were interviewed you said words to the effect: 'Mr Power had half his ear hanging off'."

Jason: "Yes."

Howker: "Was that so?"

Jason: "To be honest, I think I might have exaggerated there a little bit. But what I want you to understand, the court to understand, is that Martin was attacked and through no fault of his own, you know, he was attacked and I felt sorry for him. He's gone there just to reason with the guy and just to talk to him, and the guy slashed at him and he caught him. And I knew that one day he's got to come in and face this self-defence, whatever. So I wanted to help him as much as I could. I wanted to paint a picture that Martin didn't have any choice. You know, I wanted to try and help the guy."

Howker: "So the reference to half an ear hanging off ?"
 

Jason: "Is an exaggeration."

11.53-54am (approx): Rob Darby suffered a single stab wound to the left side of his chest. He stumbled a short distance to the pub car park, where he collapsed.

11.55.38am: ‘Sally Palmer’ (not her real name, known as ‘Witness B’), called 999 from her small silver Renault Modus courtesy car parked against the kerb on the left, just past the pub entrance near Gants Hill roundabout. She ducked down in the driver’s seat of while making the call that lasted 7.54 mins (11.55.38-12.03).

11.59.42am: Hunt was captured on the pub's CCTV. Having driven Darby's car into the pub car park, he then hid his friend’s yellow/black-handled Stanley knife behind an advertising board. He was also seen crouching over Darby's body which lay on the wet ground alongside the passenger door. After failing to lift Darby into the front passenger seat, Hunt was seen walking into the pub to seek assistance from staff. Police later found at least two more knives in the boot of Darby's car.

12.01.44pm: Hunt used his mobile to phone his girlfriend Emma Ross, who was driving her children and mother back from Gatwick Airport. In her statement for Jason's 2017 appeal, she said: "I remember that Paul phoned me in a state saying words to the effect: 'He has done him, Martin has done him'. He was very emotional.

"I should say at this stage that the Martin that I supposedly spoke to on the phone (the previous night) and to whom Paul was referring to in the conversation, is a man who I now know to be called Martin Power. I have never met Martin. I can only say it is Martin because of what Paul subsequently told me after his arrest in connection with the death of Robert Darby."

 
Police officer Tom Morgan described weather conditions at the scene as "pouring rain and high winds." PC Mark McFaull remembered "heavy, persistent rain".

Howker: "We obviously all know that Darby was stabbed. Did you see that happen?"

Jason: "I didn't see the actual stabbing, no."

Howker: "Now, again, just concentrate on you for a moment . . . you were in the passenger seat reading the Racing Post?" 

Jason: "Yes."

CCTV clips of Jason leaving his home that morning show him holding a rolled up copy of the paper.

Howker: "And then you're out of the car going to Martin Power's aid, is what it amounts to?"

Jason: "Yes."

Howker: "Do you have any recollection of whether you had the newspaper still with you when you got out, or what?"

Jason: "Yes, I probably still have it in my hand, yes."
 

Howker: "Let me just ask you this, Mr Moore: firstly, on that day while you were in the car and when you knew there was going to be this meeting up with Darby, had you got any intention of getting involved?"

Jason: "None whatsoever. None whatsoever."

Howker: "Either verbally or physically or anything?"

Jason: "I just wanted to give the guy this holiday money and that would be the end of it."

Judge Hilliard: "So when you hear about the meeting with Mr Darby, you have no intention of getting involved in it?"

Jason: "None whatsoever."

Judge Hilliard: "Sorry, when you say you just wanted to give him the money, were you expecting to give him the money at the meeting?"

Jason: "No, not then, because it wasn't (inaudible). It wasn't – no."

Judge Hilliard: "So you had no intention of getting involved in the meeting?"

 

Jason: "No."

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Howker: "All right, so we have now got you both back in the car. The car's driving off. Just dealing with you first of all, just give us a flavour of what's going on in your head and anything you may have said?"

Jason: "I'm half in shock, because I can't believe how the morning's turned out. You know, I just can't believe where this has come from. One minute I'm meeting him to play racquetball, next minute Rob's hurt in the street and Martin’s holding his ear . . . I'm all over the place. This had just become a nightmare out of the blue, a complete nightmare."

Howker: "Did you, at the time that you were there in the car and driving away, know how badly Darby was injured?"

Jason: "No, I didn't know how badly, no."

Howker: "What are you thinking, if anything, about how this might pan out now that Darby is (inaudible)?"

Jason: "You know, this is all going to come back on me. Darby knows where I live, he's going to blame me, it's all going to come back on me. And for the first time people are hurt and it is serious now, it's really serious. So now I'm really worried."

Howker: "Forgive the obvious question. When you say: 'It's all going to come back on me', what do you mean?"

Jason: "Well, he knows where I live, he's on my doorstep (lives locally). If he's going to find anyone it's going to be me, I'm an easy target."

Howker: "So you think Darby is going to come and get you, basically?"

Jason: "Yes."

Howker: "So that's what's going through your head?"

Jason: "That's exactly what's going through my head."

Howker: "What are you saying to Mr Power, if anything, at this stage?"

Jason: "There's not much being said. I might have said something to him like: 'What the hell's just happened there, mate? What's gone on there?'. You know, something like that. I'm upset now because at the end of the day I've done everything I can and it's just gone so badly wrong. Just, you know, out the blue, out of nowhere."

Howker: "That's, as it were, dealing with you. I'll come back to what happens in a minute. Let's transfer our attentions to Mr Power. First and foremost, what sort of state is he in? Never mind physical, what's he doing? What's he saying that you can work out?"

Jason: "Well, he was holding his ear, he was driving a car, he's ranting and raving about . . . I'm not really paying a lot of attention to him because I think it's about . . . we're on the way, my sister's round the corner, I just want to get out of the car and clear my head."

Judge Hilliard: "He was holding his ear, driving his car – did you say 'ranting and raving'?

Jason: "Yes, ranting and raving."

Judge Hilliard: "Did you say you weren't interested because your sister was just round the corner?" 

Jason: "Yes, I just want to get out of his car."

12.02-12.17 Power's phone was cell siting in the Theydon Bois/Epping area. He said in court that he drove himself and Jason to Stonnard's Farm, which is owned by Power's good friend Colin Jeffries (an Ilford-based fireman). Although Jeffries was not at home, Power used a spare key to let himself and Jason in. Power said that they had a drink to kill time before Jason was picked up by his sister Rhonda. Power says he then dropped Jason off in Epping High Street at around 12.30.

12.02 (14s) Rhonda > Power: Jason (who didn't have a mobile with him) took the handset from Power and asked his sister to pick him up.

Jason: "I can't remember exactly where I told her to meet me but she was only local. I haven't got a clue where she picked me up but it was very close by."

12.02.30 Power > Colin Jeffries:
It's later confirmed by the London Fire Brigade that Jeffries was off sick on this day.

12.05 Emergency services arrived in Perth Road and took over from the pub staff who had been doing their best to tend to Darby. Darby was laying on his back, in pouring rain, with blood coming from a two-to-three-inch knife wound to the left side of his chest. He received open heart surgery and remained unconscious on the ground for some 20 mins before the HEMS air ambulance team landed and took him to the Royal London Hospital, E1.

Norman Lawrence Wigington, a delivery driver for Parcel Force (Romford), was just about to deliver a parcel to Saunders Menswear, at the far end of Perth Road, when he saw Darby "laying on his back in the pouring rain". He had missed the incident by just seconds and, despite later giving police a witness statement, was unable to tell them anything of interest.

12.06 Power > Terrie Beales: Power stated that he told her to "send someone over there to see if Rob's all right".

12.06-12.09 Beales > Power

12.09 Beales > Power

12.17.15 Power (Jason using MP's phone) > Rhonda (2m 13s)

12.12 Power > unknown male (Warren Mitchell?) at his office in Cranbrook Road

12.20 Unknown man (as above) > Power

12.21.16 Power > Rhonda (23s)

12.23-12.25 Beales > Power

Power then switches off his phone to (in his words) "avoid being tracked by police".