A TEENAGER is guilty of murdering an innocent man for his Gucci man bag – and he knows it, a jury was told.

The claim against Joseph Jeremy was made by Paul Lewis QC representing Elliott Fiteni who is accused of killing Ryan O’Connor in Newport last summer.

Five Cardiff men: Jeremy, 18, of no fixed abode; Fiteni, 19, of no fixed abode; Lewis Aquilina, 20, of Canton Court, Riverside; Kyle Raisis, 18, of Bartley Wilson Way, Canton, and Ethan Strickland, 19, of Clos Briallen, Caerau, are on trial for his murder.

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They all deny the charge.

The gang “hunted down and killed” the 26-year-old Newport father on a “road trip to commit crime”, prosecutor Michael Brady QC told the city’s crown court.

READ MORE: Lewis Aquilina ‘not guilty of murdering Ryan O’Connor’

During his closing speech to the jury, Mr Lewis said it was Jeremy who killed Mr O’Connor in an alleged random stabbing in the Alway area.

South Wales Argus:

Joseph Jeremy

He made a reference to a phone call the defendant made from a young offender institution following his arrest where he talks about pleading guilty to manslaughter.

“It is agreed that in his calls from prison after his arrest, Joseph Jeremy thought a verdict of manslaughter would be a good result for him – and it would be,” Mr Lewis said.

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“Because we submit he is, and he knows he is, in fact, a murderer.”

South Wales Argus:

Ryan O’Connor

Jurors have heard how the defendants drove to Newport from Cardiff in a stolen Ford Fiesta ST which had false plates.

Mr Lewis told them: “The knife used to stab Ryan O’Connor to death was the knife that Mr Jeremy took into the car.

He added: “Jeremy buys knives more often than some of you buy fish and chips.

“He is cynical, scheming and manipulative.”

You’ve seen a killer in action

The jury were asked to consider the video they saw again this morning of Jeremy filming himself chasing a young man with a knife.

“That’s a killer in action,” Mr Lewis puts to them.

The jury are told it was fortunate that the man got away or “he could have been another Ryan O’Connor”.

Fiteni had previously attacked a victim with a broken bottle milk bottle during a school trip, Mr Lewis reminded them.

He carried out the assault when he was 14 in 2015 and was convicted of wounding and possession of an offensive weapon in public.

Mr Lewis said: “Mr Fiteni was attacked and beaten up and amongst his injuries was a broken nose.

“He retaliated with a bottle and the victim was struck in the face causing a wound that required 12 stitches.

“He admitted what he had done when he was taken to court.

“It is not to Elliott Fiteni’s credit but that’s the only time he has used a weapon against anyone and it’s not a knife.”

Mr Lewis said of the alleged killing of Mr O’Connor: “Elliott Fiteni was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“He doesn’t deserve to be convicted of murder because of that.”

The defendants also deny manslaughter and robbery.

Mr O’Connor died from multiple stab wounds near the Aberthaw Road roundabout on the evening of Thursday, June 10, 2021.

The case continues.