Paramedic says 'angry mob' at Sheffield pub delayed treatment for fatally-wounded Macaulay Byrne

Sheffield Crown Court has heard during an on-going trial how Bovic Mupolo, aged 21, of Fleury Rise, Gleadless, Sheffield, has denied murdering 26-year-old Macaulay Byrne following an alleged ‘fight’ involving Mr Mupolo and Mr Byrne outside the Gypsy Queen pub, at Beighton, just before 10pm, on Boxing Day, 2021.

John Harrison KC, prosecuting, has claimed Mr Mupolo pushed Mr Byrne and they were allegedly involved in a fight that started at some steps outside and spilled into the car park.

Mr Harrison added that during the incident Mr Mupolo’s 25-year-old friend Layton Morris had allegedly been involved in another fight with others before he allegedly helped Mr Mupolo get away and get a change of clothes.

Assistant pub manager Dawn Blake stated she had seen about 10 to 12 males squaring-up outside before Mr Byrne approached the pub steps and she called 999 and said he had been stabbed and was now behind the bar.

Paramedic Catherine Gausden stated she and her colleague were stopped in their tracks by youths shouting and banging on their ambulance as they arrived and even after they entered the car park they could not get near the pub doors.

She added: “As I exited the vehicle to get equipment I was unable to do so because I was confronted by an angry mob and youths and I explained my colleague was inside and I needed to get inside.”

Ms Gausden stated a police officer stood between her and the ‘mob’ and they were showered with broken glass before they got to Mr Byrne, who was bleeding profusely.

She also stated ‘this angry mob’ delayed vital equipment being taken to the patient and treatment from being administered. After Mr Byrne had been placed on a stretcher four or six people jumped on the back of the ambulance, she added.

Ms Gausden stated: “We tried to tell them we needed to treat the patient but they would not listen.”

Mr Harrison, prosecuting, read out Ms Gausden’s evidence from her statement and he did the same for some other witnesses including assistant manager Ms Blake, the pub manager Susan Campbell and some of the police officers.

PC Leanne Temperton stated there were ‘pockets of people punching each other’ and she stopped the fights and removed everyone from behind the bar, where Mr Byrne lay injured.

She added: “I saw Macaulay Byrne behind the bar being treated by staff. It was clear he had lost a large amount of blood because it was all over the bar.”

PC Amy Fenton stated: “There was a hysterical female behind the bar and she was asked to leave and she was hostile to police and she said ‘he’s my brother, I’m not leaving’.”

She also added ‘there was pockets of disorder erupting in the pub’ and people were arguing and fighting before they were removed as more police arrived.

PC Helen Turner-Nichols stated she saw several females behind the bar with Mr Byrne helping to stem the blood flowing from his left side.

Pub landlady Susan Campbell stated she arrived at the pub on her night-off after her daughter phoned her and told her someone had been stabbed.

She added that she saw Mr Byrne behind the bar looking ‘extremely grey’ with his left side soaked in blood and she joined others in applying pressure to his wound.

Ms Campbell stated she remembered Mr Byrne’s sister screaming before a police officer got her out of the way.

The deceased’s sister Carys Byrne previously told jurors she had gone to the pub after receiving a phone call from a woman saying her brother had been stabbed. She revealed she knew Mr Mupolo because he was a friend of her ex-partner’s and she later phoned him and accused him of stabbing her brother.

Ms Campbell added that as she tried to help Mr Byrne to the ambulance his sister punched her to the right side of her face before police moved her away.

Mr Harrison, prosecuting, said after the incident Mr Mupolo and Mr Morris allegedly took a taxi to Swinton and changed clothes at Mr Morris’ address before going to a pub in Rotherham and to two bars in Sheffield.

Mr Mupolo has pleaded not guilty to murder. Layton Morris, of Sidney Street, Swinton, near Mexborough, Rotherham, has pleaded not guilty to assisting an offender.

Mr Morris said in a written defence statement that a group of males had been staring at them and he had had his jumper pulled over his head and he had been kicked.

He added that some people shouted racist abuse and threats so they left and got a taxi to his home where they could get changed and he claimed he was not aware there had been a stabbing. Mr Harrison has said Mr Mupolo is expected to claim he had been defending himself.

The trial continues.