The trial of three people accused of murder has been discharged for legal reasons. The trial will restart on Monday.

Daniel Rae, 30, was found dead at his home in Princess Street, Treforest, Pontypridd, on the evening of December 17 last year. He had suffered seven stab wounds to his leg and forearm, which caused his death.

Kieran Carter, 22, Kian Rowlands, 18, and a 17-year-old boy are charged with his murder, which they deny. Grace Dresser, 21, and Chad Joy, 33, deny a charge of assisting an offender. Dresser and Joy also deny perverting the course of justice, as does Amy Jones, 36.

The trial is taking place at Cardiff Crown Court in front of His Honour Mr Justice Nicklin. The hearing is estimated to last six weeks.

At the time of Mr Rae's death, his family paid tribute to their loved one. In a statement they said: "Daniel, our son, brother, and loving father has been taken away from us far too soon and we are truly devastated. He had a huge, and the warmest, heart, having such a caring, funny, and loving personality. He loved his family and friends, always putting them first.

"We will miss you unconditionally and we were so blessed to have you in our lives, we always treasure the memories we made together. We will always love you, and we need time to grieve and get over the shock of losing Daniel in this horrible way."

The trial continues.

Key Events

Trial discharged

The jury has been discharged for legal reasons. The trial will restart on Monday.

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Court dealing with technical issues

There have been some technical issues in court which we are trying to overcome. We are hoping our coverage can resume shortly.

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Defendant looked up news articles about Mr Rae’s death

Amy Jones sent a voice note to Carter. She said: “And your coat has blown down the river that’s why nobody could see it. I’ve got the boys to have a look over the wall so you ain’t got to stress about that either. It’s so f****** cold today.”

Dresser was also seen looking up news articles about Mr Rae’s death.

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Barrister goes through times of calls

Mr Rees goes through the times of calls made between various defendants including Carter, Dresser, Joy and Jones.

He also refers to times of CCTV stills when various defendants were caught on camera.

All four were found to be in a group chat.

There was also contact from Kian Rowlands and the 17-year-old boy.

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'No-one’s playing games mush'

Mr Rae messaged Carter: “Don’t even let man speak wtf! I’d just ask you if I wanted like I did [when] you was here with me mush…

“Why would I try blag you to make it worse for myself! No one’s playing games mush.”

Carter sent a voice note saying: “Bro listen I’m coming now, if you aint got the bread by [the time] I get there, it’s long.” This voice note was played to the court.

Mr Rae responded with various voice notes. He said: “Bruv I’ve told you the situation, but think about it logically bro, why the fuck would I get 2 bags for somebody else and not pay you for it…

“F****** where’s the sense in that bro? F****** I showed you the thing where it says the first payment will be sent now…

“Mush if I was trying to swindle you for a couple of bags, but trust me mate, why would I do that for a few bags lad? F****** hell.”

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'Mum call me quick it’s about that money'

Carter made a 33-second call to Mr Rae at 3.20pm, and following that Mr Rae tried to call his mother.

At 4.11pm he sent her a message saying: “Mum call me quick it’s about that money :) x”

At 4.16pm he messaged her: “Otherwise we won’t get it and I’ll get done for fraud iv asked stav if he can do 30 can u try get 30 then mum plz xx”

At 4.37pm Carter made a call to Mr Rae which was unanswered, and Mr Rae text back “2 secs my bro”. There was a call between them at 4.51pm.

Mr Rae's mother Adele Webster later transferred £60 to Mr Rae, and he responded: “Never again tho xx.”

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Daniel Rae told coffee shop owner he had transferred him £45

Mr Rae also contacted Huseyin Muhlis Barutcu, the owner of Hoffi Coffi in Treforest. Mr Rae had previously worked as a daytime chef at the coffee shop but stopped due to health problems.

On December 16, Mr Rae contacted Mr Barutcu and told him that he had lost his bank card and needed some food. He said he would transfer the money. This had happened before so the business owner made up the order and sent it to 5 Princess Street. He told Mr Rae the order was £11, who said he would transfer the money.

On December 17, Mr Rae messaged Mr Barutcu asking him to ring him. Mr Rae said that he had sent £45 rather than £11. He said he was waiting in a taxi and could not pay. Mr Barutcu checked his account and could not see that any money had been credited from Mr Rae. He did not send him the money.

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The trial resumes

The trial resumes.

Prosecutor Christopher Rees reads out messages between Daniel Rae and Paul Maxwell.

The court hears Mr Maxwell later told Mr Rae to “delete my number, I’m done with you” and referred to him as a “Lying using p****”. Mr Maxwell deleted his number and this was the last contact they had.

He also reads out messages between defendant Kieran Carter and Mr Rae.

Carter sent a voice message to Mr Rae, saying: “Is he 100 percent got cash man I don’t want to come for no reason bro.”

Mr Rae responded: “Yes 100 percent bro”.

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The trial will resume on Monday

The trial adjourns until next week when pathology evidence will be heard.

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Dr Ian Bowler

The next statement is from Dr Ian Bowler.

He attended Princess Street and noticed several stab wounds to Mr Rae’s left leg.

He said the patient was found collapsed next to a bed covered in blood, and he had no pulse.

An assessment showed several wounds to the upper left thigh and the back of the same thigh.

After 20 minutes, there was no change in Mr Rae’s condition and it was agreed resuscitation was futile. Mr Rae was declared dead at 8.28pm.

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Paramedic Lee Collins

The next statement is from paramedic Lee Collins, who was informed an assault or stabbing had taken place.

There was a heavy police presence at the house in Princess Street.

Mr Collins was directed to a bedroom and observed blood and a female police officer performing CPR on a male.

The mattress was turned on its side to allow for more room and Mr Rae was placed on the centre of the floor.

Mr Collins asked for Mr Rae’s clothes to be cut to gain better access.

At first he could not see any obvious injuries and defibrillator pads were placed on Mr Rae, and he was shocked.

Mr Collins noticed stab wounds to Mr Rae’s to the right area of his left thigh. He was rolled over to his right side and there were several stab wounds to the back of his left leg.

The witness said Mr Rae was later declared dead at the scene.

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PS Liam Noyce

The next statement is from PS Liam Noyce, who attended Princess Street with PC Cole after receiving information about a “possible murder”.

He said he noticed spots of blood leading up the stairs towards a first floor bedroom.

He saw two males at the top of the stairs and spoke to them. The door to the room was open and he immediately noticed a mattress and sheet soaked in red liquid, he believed to be blood.

PS Noyce said: “A man believed to be Daniel Rae was on the floor to the left of the bed, he was slumped over the bed in an awkward position with his upper body and head leaning backwards.”

PS Noyce was on the phone to the ambulance as PC Cole performed CPR until paramedics arrived.

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Statements read to court

A series of statements are read to the court by junior prosecutor Andrew Kendal.

The first statement is from PC Kerry Cole. She arrived at Princess Street at 7.50pm and the front door was open.

She said she could see spots of red liquid, which she believed to be blood. The spots of blood continued up the stairs and led to a bedroom on the first floor.

PC Cole saw two men unknown to her at the top of the stairs.

As she entered the bedroom, PC Cole said there was a double bed which had a sheet and a mattress covered in red liquid.

She added: “ A male I now know to be Daniel Rae was sat on the floor to the left of the bed, his upper body and head was leaning on the mattress.”

PC Cole climbed over items on the floor, and described the room as cramped due to its size and furniture.

She said: “I placed my fingers on Mr Rae’s wrist to feel for a pulse. He was very warm to touch.”

Mr Rae was placed on the floor, PC Cole unzipped his clothing and could see a rectangular piece of wood between his stomach and his shirt.

She commenced CPR until paramedics arrived but had no response.

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Carving knife missing

Trevor Burke KC, for Kieran Carter, cross examines Ms Gibson.

He asked the witness if she opened the bag of knives, and Ms Gibson confirmed she did.

Mr Burke said there are 11 compartments in the roll, and nine implements.

He said: “There are two empty.”

The brand of the knives was Victorinox. Mr Burke said a carving knife and a two pronged roasting fork was missing.

The witness has finished her evidence.

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Jury shown knives

Ms Gibson said she attended Mr Rae room. There was significant blood staining in the room.

Photographs of the room are shown to the jury.

Two mobile phones were located on the floor.

Mr Rae was taken from the address to a mortuary the following day.

There was a black fabric roll containing chef knives on the inside of Mr Rae’s room.

The roll of knives is brought into the courtroom and is shown to the jury.

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The trial resumes. on Friday morning

Prosecutor Christopher Rees KC calls forensic crime scene investigator Joanna Gibson to give evidence.

She attended Daniel Rae’s home in Princess Street on the evening of December 17 after his body had been discovered.

The witness was told there was a “potential murder” at the address.

The road was cordoned off and Ms Gibson said she noticed a trail of blood, which she marked out with cones.

She formed the opinion the trail had been caused by someone leaving the property as they were bleeding.

A request was made for the blood to be examined, with samples collected.

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Victim 'frequently' heard arguing on the phone

Mr Bentham agreed he frequently heard Mr Rae arguing with people on the phone.

He also agreed the argument on December 17 appeared to be about money, that Mr Rae owed some money

Mr Bentham said: “He did gamble a lot, yes.”

In his statement, the witness also referred to an incident where Mr Rae wanted an app downloaded which enabled him to fake a bank statement.

Mr Bentham said: “It was done on my phone yes.” The witness said he saw two or three pictures on his phone from that app after Mr Rae had used it.

The witness has finished his evidence.

The trial will adjourn until 10am tomorrow.

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Witness 'angry' about situation in house

Mr Burke, for Carter, said Mr Bentham had referred to Mr Rae as “A complete pain in the arse.”

Mr Bentham said: “I was angry because of the situation at the house… My son could have been there a few hours before.”

In his police statement, Mr Bentham said he could hear Mr Rae smashing stuff in his room and shouting and swearing throughout the day.

When asked if he approached Mr Rae, he said: “It had happened several times before… When you’ve asked 50 times previously there’s no point asking the 51st.”

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'There was blood upstairs and it was eerily quiet'

Mr Bentham said: “The door was open, there was blood upstairs and it was eerily quiet.

“I went into the kitchen, put stuff in the fridge and went upstairs. There was blood on the stairs, going up the stairs. The drops got bigger as you went up.”

Prosecutor Christopher Rees KC said: “Where did they lead?”

Mr Bentham said: “Dan’s room, just inside.”

He said Mr Rae’s bedroom door was open.

Mr Rees said: “What could you see?”

Mr Bentham said: “Dan slumped against his bed, blood everywhere, his blood was pretty straight and he looked as though he was clutching something or holding himself.”

He said the bed was pulled out away from the wall.

Mr Rees said: “Where did you see the blood?”

Mr Bentham said: “On the bed, on the floor, there was quite a bit of it.”

Mr Rees said: “Did you try and wake Dan?”

Mr Bentham said: “I tried to call him.”

Mr Rees said: “Was there no response?”

Mr Bentham said: “No.. I called to Jack to ask what had happened and that’s when he came out… He didn’t know what had happened.”

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Next witness takes stand

The next witness to give evidence is James Bentham.

He was living at Princess Street on December 17.

The witness said he “kind of knew” Mr Rae for 12 months.

Around 7pm, he was the front of the address with Jack Rose to “have a fag or a bong”.

He heard people coming towards the address, but he is now unable to describe what they looked like. The people went upstairs.

Mr Bentham heard loud music coming from Mr Rae’s room, and went to the shop for 15 minutes. He said Mr Rose remained at the property.

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'Mr Rae’s “tantrums” were getting worse'

Mr Burke asked Ms Willis if Mr Rae appeared aggressive when he asked who was at his door? Ms Willis agreed.

The defence barrister said: “If you were to call the police every time Mr Rae had a tantrum in his room, they would be there every week.”

Ms Willis said: “No.”

Mr Burke said: “And calling the police might irritate him and you’d be conscious of that?”

Ms Willis said: “Yes.”

The witness said she didn’t hear anyone leave the house.

She was asked if Mr Rae’s “tantrums” were getting worse.

Ms Willis said: “Definitely, tantrums by himself were getting worse as well. He was very aggressive when he was on the phone with people in his room

Mr Burke said: “Did you ever form the opinion he was under the influence of drugs.”

Ms Willis said: “Yes, several times.”

She also said she and Mr Rose had to go to Mr Rose’s car several times due to Mr Rae trashing his room.

The witness has finished her evidence.

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Witness is cross-examined

Trevor Burke KC, for Carter, is now cross examining Ms Willis.

She concedes she couldn’t hear much of what was being said in Mr Rae’s room.

Ms Willis said: “I was pretty sure they were saying stuff, I couldn’t make it out at all.”

She said she believed Mr Rae had been at his home all day

Mr Burke asked if Mr Rae had “one of his usual tantrums” and had smashed up objects in his room.

Ms Willis said she wasn’t sure if it had happened that day, but it had happened

Mr Burke said: “You were both frightened of him weren’t you?”

Ms Willis said: “Yes.”

Mr Burke said: “He’d have frequent visitors to his room all hours of day and night, playing loud music, shouting, swearing, smashing things in his room, disturbing other people in the house?”

Ms Willis said: “Yes.”

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Emergency services were called

Ms Willis said James Bentham arrived back, and spoke about blood in the hallway. She said Mr Bentham and Mr Rose went to the room to check Mr Rae and opened the door.

The witness said she didn’t go to the room herself.

Mr Rose contacted 999 and the emergency services, which arrived shortly later. Ms Willis went to wait in Mr Rose’s car.

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Witness 'concerned fight would escalate'

Ms Willis expressed concern the fight would escalate, when I hear a fight going on I get anxious…

“Around a minute or two after that, there was more of an English accent, a London accent

Someone said I don’t care if you’re bleeding, get me my drink or drugs. I don’t actually know what I heard for sure, it was something with the letter D.”

The witness said she heard Mr Rae take “a few deep breaths” as if he was “hyperventilating or gasping for air”.

She said Mr Rose left his room around half an hour later

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The trial resumes

The witness to give evidence is Alannah Willis, who is giving evidence via video link to the courtroom.

On December 17, she was visiting Jack Rose at his address in Princess Street.

Ms Willis said she also knew Daniel Rae, who also lived at the address.

She said she became aware of a knock on Mr Rae’s door.

She said: “He was playing music at the time, he stopped his music and said ‘Who is it and what do you want?’

“I heard someone reply in what I thought was a Welsh accent, say ‘Bro let me in’...

“I heard Dan’s door open and close a few seconds afterwards. Around 10 seconds later I heard the sounds of a physical fight coming from Dan’s room, grunting noises.”

The witness said Mr Rose came back to the room and one of them locked the door.

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'I was scared'

Mr Burke asked if the witness had a clear recollection.

Mr Rose said: “As clear as it can be now, I’d say not now as time’s passed but my statement is as clear as it can be because it was fresh.”

The witness said he didn’t call the police at first because he would “be the one to deal with the repercussions”.

He added: “I’d called the police on Dan before, I didn’t like the idea of living with someone who had animosity towards me and could beat me up.”

Mr Burke said: “Did he intimidate you?”

Mr Rose said: “Yeah… I was scared in the sense of if he did something, not like this, but he was capable of punching me and breaking my nose. I wasn’t up at night worrying about what would happen… We were civil.”

Mr Rose has finished his evidence, the trial is adjourned until 2pm.

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'Me and him butted heads'

Mr Rose was asked about Mr Rae and their relationship.

The witness said: “He just didn’t respect the people he lived with, he didn’t give a s*** about what he did and who it bothered. He’d play loud music, leave s*** everywhere, wouldn’t clean up…

“It depends where you’re from, others said they didn’t even notice it…

“I’m not a clean freak, my room is a s*** tip but it’s about respect. Me and him butted heads quite frequently.”

Mr Rose also confirmed he would lend money to Mr Rae, and would make excuses about paying him back. He said he owed him £450.

Mr Burke said: “He had quite a temper didn’t he?”

Mr Rose said: “I would say so yeah… There was one incident he broke a few items and within a week he had cleaned up. He used to shout quite often.”

Mr Burke said: “Was there a period he lost his cool and trashed his room that very day?”

Mr Rose said: “I can’t remember sorry.”

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Victim always had visitors

Trevor Burke KC, for Kieran Carter, cross examines Mr Rose.

He asked if each tenant had locks on their door in the house and Mr Rose confirmed this was the case.

The witness also confirmed Mr Rae had frequent visitors “at all times of the day and out”.

Mr Burke said visitors would be there for hours and smoke cannabis

When asked about the males walking into the house, Mr Rose said: “It was a little bit weird, I can’t even describe how they were walking. It was almost like precision walking, as if they were marching in unison.”

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He thought Daniel had died

Mr Rose made a 999 call.

Mr Rees said: “You told Alannah you thought Daniel had died?”

The witness said: “Yeah.”

He assisted until the police arrived at the house and took over the situation.

Mr Rees has finished his questioning.

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'There was blood everywhere'

Mr Rose said he noticed blood on the landing after leaving his room.

He said Mr Bentham said: “What the f***, what the hell’s going on.”

The witness said Mr Rae’s door was open. When asked if he peered in, he said: “James did first and called out his name. I went up next to James and peered in…

“(Dan) was leaning against his bed on the floor, knees bent, can’t remember what position his arms were in. His eyes were open and there was blood everywhere, on the mattress and on the floor…

“(The bed) had been shifted to the left.”

He confirmed he saw blood on the floor and the bed, and noticed plastic bags on Mr Rae’s bed, computer monitor and back of his chair.

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