Jodie Chesney murder trial: Girl scout stabbed to death by dealers after friend bought cannabis from rival suppliers, court told

Girl Scout Jodie Chesney was stabbed to death by dealers after her friend bought cannabis from a rival rather than their new batch of the drug, a court has heard.

Jodie, 17, was knifed in the back as she sat with a group of young people listening to music and smoking in Amy's Park in Harold Hill, east London.

The Old Bailey has heard the popular A-level student was unlikely to have been the intended target of the attack on the evening of March 1.

Earlier that day, one of her group had unsuccessfully tried to buy £20 of "Pineapple Express" cannabis from the defendant Svenson Ong-a-Kwie and turned to another local dealer instead, the jury was told.

Ong-a-Kwie, 19, and his co-accused Manuel Petrovic, 20, were said to be in business together selling drugs.

The court heard a 16-year-old defendant acted as a "runner" for Petrovic.

A fourth defendant, aged 17, was allegedly helping Ong-a-Kwie, also known as Spencer, to sell drugs on the day of the killing.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett told jurors: "One or more of Jodie's friends had bought cannabis in the past from one or more of the defendants."

On February 28, Ong-a-Kwie's mobile phone sent a message to customers, including Jodie's friend Kane Compton, advertising a new strain of cannabis known as "Pineapple Express", he said.

The message offered 1g and 2g bags of "Pineapple Express" with "fast delivery all over the hill (Harold Hill) holla with the dolla".

Mr Compton, 18, passed the message on to another of Jodie's group, Bryce Henderson, 18.

He agreed to contact Spencer, aka Ong-a-Kwie, to buy a bag of Pineapple Express for £20, it was claimed.

When Mr Henderson had no luck, Mr Compton sent the man he knew as Spencer a text to ask why and was told the driver had crashed his car and was on the way to hospital, the court heard.

Mr Aylett told jurors there was no evidence Petrovic had crashed his car, so either he was lying or he was working with someone else.

By 7.05pm, Mr Henderson gave up on Spencer and agreed to buy £40 of cannabis from another local dealer who arranged delivery to Amy's Park within the hour, the jury was told.

Mr Aylett said that while Mr Henderson had no luck getting hold of Pineapple Express from Ong-a-Kwie, Mr Compton's older brother Joshua ordered some for himself.

Ong-a-Kwie delivered it personally, taking a minicab to Harold Hill accompanied by the 17-year-old defendant, it was alleged.

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Afterwards, he sent a series of urgent texts to Petrovic saying: "I need you ASAP", jurors heard.

Mr Aylett said: "The prosecution suggest that while Svenson Ong-a-Kwie was in Harold Hill he must either have heard or seen something that upset him. For his part, Joshua Compton has said that there was no conversation between him and Svenson."

The four defendants, from east London, have denied murder.

Additional reporting by PA.

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