THE cause of death of a teenager following a mob attack was said to have been stab wounding to the back, a murder trial jury was told.

Jack Woodley was confirmed dead in hospital late on Sunday October 17, last year, about 26 hours after he was chased and attacked as he was leaving the Houghton Feast funfair, in Houghton-le-Spring.

Newcastle Crown Court was told as he was attended to in the aftermath of the assault, in an alleyway next to The Britannia pub, on Newbottle Street, he was in cardiac arrest.

Forensic pathologist Dr Louise Mulcahy, who carried out the post-mortem examination, said an air ambulance was quickly on the scene and medics were able to revive his heart beat as he was being transferred to hospital.

She said the main stab wound pierced the right lobe of the lung, causing heavy blood loss.

Prosecuting counsel, Mark McKone, asked: “Why was it not possible for doctors to save Jack’s life?”

Dr Mulcahy responded: “The effects of the haemorrhage, with bleeding from the stab wounds, meant he couldn’t clot the wounds and he suffered damage to his brain due to a lack of oxygen.”

She said the main stabbing to the right side of the middle of the back were “sharp-force” injuries caused by a sharp-edged implement such as a knife.

The wound, of seven centimetres depth, would have required, “at least a mild degree of force”, to penetrate between ribs, the diaphragm and lung, and would have left him incapacitated, “after a few minutes.”

Dr Mulcahy said there was a further stab wound of less depth above the right hip, but she was unable to say if both were caused by the same knife.

But she agreed they were consistent with the knife recovered by police investigating the killing.

Read more: Jack Woodley murder trial at Newcastle Crown Court

Mr Woodley also suffered from a number of abrasions and bruises, some which she believed may have been “table-edge” type injuries, although she could not say if they may have been caused by a knuckleduster.

But she added that there were also footwear marks on Mr Woodley’s body and there appeared to have been “multiple blows” to his head.

A 15-year-old defendant has accepted stabbing Mr Woodley, and has admitted manslaughter, but he denies murder.

Nine other male defendants, aged 14 to 17 at the time of the attack, also deny murder.

The trial continues tomorrow.

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