Prom night stabbing motivated by jealousy - trial

A teenager was stabbed by a stranger in an “unprovoked” attack motivated by “irrational jealousy”, a trial was told.

Kajetan Migdal, 18, was fatally injured on Cutty’s Lane, Stevenage, at 23:20 BST on 27 May 2022, the night of his school prom.

Luton Crown Court heard the teenager and three friends had been confronted by a man in a balaclava, who mistakenly believed they had spoken to his ex-girlfriend.

Patrick Sharp-Meade, now 20, of Cutty’s Lane, Stevenage, admitted possession of a bladed article but denies murder.

Mr Migdal, a Year 13 pupil at John Henry Newman Catholic School in Stevenage, died at 04:05 in the Lister Hospital, the court heard.

At the start of the trial, Judge John Hillen told the jury of six men and six women that Mr Sharp-Meade “accepts he stabbed and killed Kajetan.

“The issue is whether he is guilty of murder or manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility,” he said.

The teenager was stabbed on 27 May 2022 at 23:20

Opening the case, prosecutor Jane Bickerstaff KC said the group had attended their school prom at the Holiday Inn in Stevenage.

They returned to Mr Migdal’s grey Skoda car – parked on Mr Sharp-Meade’s street – where they would change before heading to an after-party in Cambridge.

“They never made it to Cambridge,” Ms Bickerstaff said.

“They were approached by the defendant who was armed with a large zombie-style knife. He had it concealed down his tracksuit trousers.

“He verbally challenged Kajetan and his friends in the pretence that they had been following or speaking to his ex-girlfriend as she walked past the group.”

Ms Bickerstaff told the court the friends had backed away but Mr Migdal had not finishing changing and “momentarily stood his ground”.

The defendant approached and stabbed him in the chest, the jury heard.

“It was a wholly unprovoked attack in a residential street in Stevenage,” the prosecutor said.

“This defendant and Kajetan Migdal were both 18 and complete strangers.”

Kajetan Migdal was with a group of friends when they were approached by the defendant

‘Irrationally jealous’

The jury was told the defendant’s ex-girlfriend was heading to Mr Sharp-Meade’s flat to collect a fur hood and had been talking to a friend as she walked past the group of students.

The defendant heard the conversation and could hear the four teenagers in the background.

The prosecutor said: “As a result of hearing them in the background, he became irrationally jealous.

“The defendant armed himself with a knife. He put on a balaclava and speed-walked to find and confront those who he wrongly thought had engaged with her.”

She said the defendant had been “enraged by something that had not happened.”

Mr Sharp-Meade was arrested after leaving his flat, where, the court heard, he had concealed the knife involved.

The case continues.

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