Judge said drill music was a 'negative influence' on young killers

Carlos Neto, now 18, but who was 17 at the time, stabbed 14-year-old Gordon across the upper right arm with a machete, as the victim, himself armed with a baseball bat, rode pillion on an electric bike ridden by a friend.

As other members of Gordon’s group, from Elswick, in Newcastle arrived on the scene, off Westmorland Road, Neto slashed another teenager, Jack Hardy, across the back, in the confrontation shortly after 6pm on November 9, 2022.

The blow to Gordon’s arm severed a vital artery and vein, causing a heavy blood loss, leading to cardiac arrest and brain injury, from which he died in hospital six days later.

Neto, then living in Newcastle, but now of Little Hulton, near Manchester, claimed he acted in self-defence.

He was cleared of Gordon’s murder following a six-week trial at Newcastle Crown Court, in January, but the jury found him guilty of manslaughter.

Neto was also found guilty of unlawfully wounding Jack Hardy, who is now 18.

He must serve two-thirds of the sentence, six years and 40 days, before being released on licence.

His co-accused, Lawson Natty, also then 17 and now 18, of Newbiggin Hall, Newcastle, who supplied Neto with the machete, while armed with a similar weapon himself, was also cleared of murder, but convicted of manslaughter and unlawful wounding.

He was sentenced to two years and eight months in a young offenders’ institution, of which he will serve half behind bars before release on licence.

But, as a Belgian national, of Nigerian descent, he may be deported upon conclusion of the custodial element of his sentence.

Four other teenagers, all said to be also members of the “Benwell group”, who accompanied Neto and Natty to Elswick Park that evening, at least two armed with clubs, were cleared of murder and wounding with intent at trial.

They were said to have gone from Benwell to neighbouring Elswick seeking to confront members of the “Elswickers” group in revenge after one of their number was assaulted outside college earlier that day, an event that was filmed and posted online as an act of humiliation.

The court heard that it was the culmination of several months of counter-threats and rising violence between the two groups, reflected in increasingly aggressive messages being posted on social media.

Carlos Neto, above, and Lawson Natty, below

Six members of the Elswick group recently admitted a charge of affray at the court, arising from their role in the incident, and are to be sentenced later this month.

The judge who presided over the trial of Neto, Natty and their four co-accused, Mr Justice Martin Spencer, expressed the sympathy of all involved in the case to the family of Gordon, who were at court for the sentencing hearing.

A victim statement was read to the hearing from Gordon’s mother, Dionne Barrett, who spoke of the “utter devastation” his death has caused the family, “breaking all of our hearts beyond repair.”

“We all have to live without my amazing, funny and kind son Gordon, who has left the world in such an unnecessary way.”

She spoke of the flashbacks she still suffers as she tried “desperately to keep my boy alive” while he lay bleeding to death and later at hospital when his death was confirmed.

Family-issue photo of Gordon Gault with pet dog Bruno

Ms Barrett added: “I hope anyone who picks up a knife to use against another person thinks twice about doing this.”

She said the “devastation” of carrying and using such knives is “unimaginable”.

The judge also spoke of the background of the developing feud, with all involved having a seeming interest in rap culture and, in particular, “drill” music.

He described it as “a pernicious genre” of music, “tending to glorify violence as well as being misogynistic”, which he said seemed to attract young men in their teens.

The judge said “tragically” the goading between the two groups did not end with name calling, “but escalated to physical violence”.

He said the “negative influences” of the drill musical genre and peer pressure led to risk-taking behaviour, in part caused by the immaturity of those involved.

See more court stories from The Northern Echo by clicking here

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Mr Justice Spencer said Neto was a lead protagonist on the Benwell group side, aided by his “armourer” Natty.

Following the hearing, the judge also commended the lead officer in the lengthy and exhaustive police investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Matthew Steel, of the Northumbria force, plus five other officers or members of police staff.

The work of Anna Barker, a senior Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor, was also commended by the judge.