Feud murder accused 'fuming' at victim's brother

A man accused alongside his father and brother of murdering a man in a feud has told jurors he was "fuming" at the victim's brother after a spate of incidents.

Daniel Ambler, 23, was killed by a car driven by Ashton Anderson at a petrol station in Seaham, County Durham, in January, after months of incidents between their families, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Barry Anderson, 52, and his sons Ashton, 20, and Logan, 19, deny murder, as do Tyler Leadbetter and Ajay Henry, both 18, who were passengers in the car.

Logan Anderson, who hit the victim with a hammer before the fatal crash, said there was no family plan to attack Daniel Ambler or his brother David.

Ashton Anderson previously told jurors he had only meant to "scare" Daniel Ambler away when he drove his Nissan X-Trail at him on the forecourt of the Stockton Road Esso garage on 15 January.

Logan Anderson, who was 18 at the time, previously told the court he hit Daniel Ambler with the victim's own hammer out of self-defence after a confrontation erupted at a bus stop.

On his second day in the witness box, the teenager was cross-examined by prosecutor Matthew Donkin KC.

The court heard there had been a number of incidents between David Ambler and the Anderson family, including Barry Anderson being stabbed in the stomach and having car keys stolen.

Logan Anderson told the court David Ambler had posted messages on social media in which he threatened to behead Barry Anderson, urinate on a young girl's grave and dig up the Anderson's deceased relatives.

"Did you want to do something?" Donkin asked.

Logan Anderson said they went to the police, or at least "tried to", but their "trust" in the authorities "went out the window pretty fast" as they perceived a lack of action from investigators.

The prosecutor asked Logan Anderson if he and his family were "furious" at David Ambler.

"When it first happened yes I was fuming with him," the teenager replied.

The court heard Barry Anderson was stabbed in the stomach by a man called Jed Wilson on 10 August in a attack allegedly orchestrated by David Ambler.

Logan Anderson said his mother's car was also rammed during the incident as she had moved to stop David Ambler from running Barry Anderson over, with the teenager saying "otherwise he would have killed my dad there and then".

He said they posted "a few daft things" on Facebook about David Ambler but there was "never a real" plan to do anything to him.

He said he was going to Seaham from Hartlepool on 15 January to get a car key off his father and money off his brother, not for the violence as alleged by prosecutors.

The trial continues.

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