Mary-Ann accused admits kidnap

ONE of six men accused of murdering teenager Mary-Ann Leneghan and attempting to murder another girl has admitted kidnapping the pair.

Joshua Morally, 23, of Balham, south London, yesterday changed his plea to guilty on two charges moments before a fresh jury was brought in to try the six, including Morally and his brother Jamaile, 22, on charges of murder, attempted murder, kidnap, rape and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Joshua Morally continues to deny charges of murder, attempted murder, rape and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Mary-Ann and her friend in Reading, Berkshire, on the night of May 6-7 last year.

Earlier yesterday, prosecutor Richard Latham QC told the court that the crown alleged that the two girls were kidnapped, raped, tortured and taken out to be killed in revenge for an attack on one of the accused.

Mr Latham told the jury the girls were abducted in a car park, bundled into the boot of a car and driven to a hotel where they were subjected to beatings and rapes and tortured with boiling sugary water, knives, a metal pole and cigarettes.

The jury heard that the two were then driven to Prospect Park in Reading where Mary-Ann was repeatedly stabbed and her friend shot in the head.

While Mary-Ann was killed, her friend “miraculously” survived, Mr Latham told the jury.

He said the crown case was that the two were abducted in revenge for a robbery in which drugs were stolen from 20-year-old Adrian Thomas, of Battersea, south London.

The prosecutor said that Thomas had been staying in a flat in Reading the month before the murder but left after being attacked, stabbed and robbed of drugs.

Mr Latham told the jury that evidence suggested that Thomas believed Mary-Ann was responsible.

In the dock yesterday alongside Joshua Morally and Thomas were Morally’s brother Jamaile, also of Balham; 18-year-old Indrit Krasniqi of Chiswick, west London; 24-year-old Llewellyn Adams, of Balham and 19-year-old Michael Johnson of Southfields, south-west London.

All deny murder, attempted murder, rape and causing grievous bodily harm.

All except Joshua Morally deny kidnap. Jamaile Morally denies a further charge of raping Mary-Ann’s friend, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Mr Latham told the court yesterday: “Some were involved more than others, they had various parts, different roles, you have only one trigger on a gun - only one person actually holding the murder weapon, the knife.

“But we suggest that they all had a role to play and they were acting in concert, as lawyers sometimes say, as part of a joint enterprise to torture and kill these two young women.”