Teenager cleared of 'poem' murder

May 8 2008

A teenager branded a killer in a poem displayed on lampposts and bus stops has been cleared of murder.

Nathan Dixon, 18, did not cause the death of Paul Kelly, 32, who was repeatedly stabbed in an alleyway outside the Longacre Tavern in Bath on January 1 last year, a jury ruled.

During the trial at Bristol Crown Court, Neil Ford, prosecuting, said Dixon, nicknamed Nitro, was seen to launch into a "frenzied attack" on Mr Kelly. But the jury of six men and six women accepted the defence's argument that the witnesses presented in court were "unreliable".

Before Dixon was arrested, dozens of copies of a poem accusing him of the killing appeared near the scene of Mr Kelly's death.

More than 20 people were thought to have seen the brawl which resulted in Mr Kelly being knifed. But in the months following the attack police claimed they hit a "wall of silence" from witnesses who were known to have been at the pub that night.

With no-one charged for the murder, a poem - by an unknown author - appeared on bus stops and lampposts near the scene. It claimed Dixon was the killer and claimed the knife had been thrown in the River Avon.

In the poem, titled Running From Paul Kelly, the murder was described as "black on white", suggesting a racist motive. The poet, who did not sign his work, described how he and other witnesses were threatened but were ashamed that "we turned our backs".

But with no-one coming forward as the author, the poem was not mentioned by prosecutors as Dixon stood trial at Bristol Crown Court. Dixon's defence would later dismiss it during proceedings.

During Dixon's two-week trial, the court heard he allegedly boasted he was a "murderer" in rap music slang in the months after Mr Kelly's death.

Mr Ford, prosecuting, said Dixon, of Cox Lee Drive, Bath, had told a friend "I'm a 187" - the Californian penal code for first degree murder. But Richard Carey-Hughes, defending, said the witnesses presented by the prosecution were "unreliable" and "lying", adding: "The witnesses did not establish that Mr Dixon had stabbed someone."