‘Beaten to death by County Lines drug dealers’
A homeless man who was beaten with a gin bottle and part of a car bonnet died after he was recalled to prison and suffered a seizure, a court heard.
Anthony Marks, 51, was found staggering through King’s Cross station after a gang of teenage county lines drug dealers attacked him on 10 August 2024.
He was taken to hospital with a bleed on the brain but it was found he had breached his prison license.
Mr Marks was sent back to HMP Brixton where he suffered the seizure that killed him.
He was transferred to hospital and died on 14 September.
Jaidee Bingham, 18, known as ‘Ghost’ and the two girls he used as drug distributors Mia Campos-Jorge, Eymaiyah-Lee Bradshaw-McKoy, also 18, all deny murder.
Drug user Harry Gittins, 36, also denies murder.
Mr Marks was found injured at King’s Cross station at 5.25am on 10 August.
‘He had very obvious and significant facial and other injuries and was equally obviously in need of immediate medical attention,’ said prosecutor Hugh Davies, KC.
Police were called and arrived to find he had been placed in a wheelchair alone in the passenger assistance waiting area with blood dripping from his head.
‘They were seriously concerned by the fact that no station staff had stayed with the injured man or given him first aid, and they, rightly, made attempts to speed up the arrival of the London Ambulance crew.
‘The apparent injuries were multiple cuts to the head, damaged teeth and associated bleeding and further injuries to the arms. The bleeding on his head was such that the officers applied three bandages.
‘He appeared somewhat agitated and intoxicated and was complaining that his head was in “severe pain”.
‘He was appearing to lose consciousness at times but managed to tell police his name was Tony and he had been attacked by someone using a metal pole and a glass bottle.’
Mr Marks was taken to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington and a CT scan revealed a bleed on the brain.
He was put under police guard at the hospital because records showed he was subject to arrest for recall to prison after breaching the terms of his license.
Mr Marks told police he had been attacked outside a closed down pub near King’s Cross.
‘He said the attack was over crack, obviously meaning crack cocaine.’
Mr Marks told police he was ‘messing around with his crack pipe’ near some bins when “Ghost” told him that ‘one of the smokers had taken some drugs off one of his subsidiary girls and run away with it.’
He said ‘Ghost’ started making threatening gestures and hit him five times with the car bonnet and knocked out his tooth.
He said: ’He and the two girls then chased me down the road towards the pub.
‘A white guy who I’ve seen, who is a smoker like us, he grabs me, I fall to the floor.
‘They proceed to stamp on me and hit me with a green gin bottle. I pass out.’
Mr Davies said: ’What he is describing is the depressing realities of a so-called ‘county line’ in operation.
‘Habitual drug users such as Mr Marks and Mr Gittins telephone a known mobile number used by particular criminal networks to supply drugs, so-called county lines.
‘The name of this line was the ‘Aaron’ or ‘Arron’ line.
‘There is a person in the hierarchy directly controlling the mobile number, in this case Jaidee Bingham.
‘There are no doubt people above him in the hierarchy. Below him in the hierarchy are the runners, or as Mr Marks called them ‘subsidiary girls,’ who are used to deliver drugs to users and collect payment.’
Gittins was seen with the others at a ‘trap house’ used to run the operation on Frederick Street in the hours after the attack.
Mr Marks was taken to HMP Brixton on 13 August 2024.
‘He was prescribed antibiotics for his facial injuries and seven days of a drug called Keppra for epilepsy,’ said Mr Davies.
‘The origins of the epilepsy diagnosis are obscure.
‘His GP records from do not identify epilepsy, and do record that he was on ‘no current medication.
‘The records from HMP Brixton show ”suspected epilepsy” but not the date or basis of that suspected diagnosis. The source of the diagnosis of epilepsy is still not known.
‘A feature of the medical intervention following transfer to Brixton prison is the question of what anti- epilepsy medication was given, and why, and whether he took it.
‘It appears likely that his anti-epilepsy medication was not at therapeutic levels, and accordingly a risk of seizure was increased. Other aspects of his medical treatment are open to criticism.’
On 22 August Mr Marks said ‘something didn’t feel right.’
The prosecutor added: ‘He also stated that he keeps losing consciousness and is therefore sleeping on the floor so that he does not fall off the top bunk and has slurred speech.
‘He was not however, referred for a further neurological scan, and an opportunity to identify this evolution and to intervene was accordingly missed.’
The next day he was declared medically fit for transfer between prisons.
On 29 August he had a likely seizure in his cell and he was taken to A&E.
He had surgery to remove the blood clot on his brain but died on 14 September.
The four defendants do not dispute they are caught in the CCTV during the attack on Mr Marks.
Mr Davies said that despite his complicated medical history, the experts agree Mr Marks’ death was caused by violence on 10 August 2024.
But he probably would have survived if he had been scanned on 22 August when he reported losses of consciousness and slurred speech.
‘Whilst there were some missed opportunities for medical intervention, the prosecution alleges that the assault more than minimally contributed to death,’Mr Davies said.
‘With that caveat, the prosecution alleges that these four defendants caused the death of Mr Marks.
The defendants admit they were present during the attack but all claim to be mere spectators.
Gittins, of Camden, Campos-Jorge, of Tottenham, Bradshaw-McKoy, of Tulse Hill, and Bingham deny murder.
They also deny an alternative charge of causing Mr Marks grievous bodily harm with intent.
Bingham also denies having an offensive weapon, namely a bottle.
The trial continues.
