When defendants charged with joint enterprise murder are not “all in it together”. By Allison Summers K.C.

Allison Summers K.C. reflects on a recent case in which she defended a youth charged with secondary liability murder.

“All in it together”: A powerful but dangerous phrase

“They are all in it together” said the Prosecutor as he closed the case against three young defendants charged with joint enterprise murder. The impact of this sort of simple statement repeated in a powerful closing address to a jury should not be underestimated. In some cases, it will be entirely justified. But the question which is often overlooked is the one I asked at the beginning of my closing speech “in it together, but to do what?”

Operation Hardwick and the events of 8 June 2025

Operation Hardwick involved the killing of a 14-year-old boy on a street in north Manchester on the 8th of June 2025. The fatal blow was inflicted by another 14-year-old boy. His 16-year-old friend had handed him the knife during a confrontation with the deceased and his group of four others. The 16-year-old’s case was that he had taken the knife out when the principal asked for it, intending that the knife would be used only to threaten and cause the group of five to back away. Indeed, this was how the principal initially used the knife and as the 16-year-old said in his evidence, “I thought when they backed off that would be it.”  Sadly, it wasn’t. The principal, for reasons that may never be known, then chased the 14-year-old boy across the road and when the boy lost his footing, attacked him with the knife on the ground. The boy died shortly thereafter from a single stab wound to the heart.

The Prosecution case on secondary liability

The case against the 16-year-old was that he had assisted (by handing the knife over) and, along with another 14-year-old, had encouraged the principal to commit murder by running over to the area where the stabbing took place and thus, by his deliberate presence, lent encouragement. The CCTV showed neither boys had run with the principal and indeed at the moment they did head in that direction, the fatal blow had already been inflicted. By the time they got to the spot, the principal had already made his retreat.

Joint Enterprise and the limits of intent

On the facts of this case, the evidence against the secondary defendants that was truly capable of establishing the requisite intention for murder, was thin, but the Prosecution’s net was still cast widely. Whilst the principle of joint enterprise remains a valuable tool in the Prosecutor’s arsenal against group violence, the “all in it together” mantra cannot be left without asking, “to do what?

Outcome at Manchester Crown Court

Allison Summers K.C. leading Rebecca Penfold, represented the 16-year-old during a trial at Manchester Crown Court between 11th November and 22nd December 2025. The principal was convicted of murder. The other two defendants were acquitted of murder and found guilty of manslaughter.