Teenage boy accused of murdering 62-year old man ‘shot him with homemade slam gun’

A teenager is accused of murdering a grandad after fatally shooting him ‘with a homemade slam gun’, a court has heard.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is charged with the murder of 62-year-old Alan Garbutt. But Teesside Crown Court has heard that the boy told police that he shot Mr Garbutt by accident.

The grandad was found dead in his flat at Helmsley House, in Guisborough, the early hours of August 8, 2022. On Monday, prosecutor Peter Glenser KC, told the jury: “It is not in dispute that the youth shot Mr Garbutt in the chest with a so-called ‘slam gun’ – which was a homemade firearm using shotgun ammunition.”

It is the prosecution’s case that the youth had moved into Mr Garbutt’s flat and was selling drugs from there.

The court heard how Mr Garbutt’s daughter visited his flat when the teenager told her – “I tried to shoot him three times, and he has got some balls for an old man” following a row about a £1,000 debt. The boy told police that he pulled the slam gun out from under Mr Garbutt’s sofa.

CCTV captured a number of people going in and out of the flat at Helmsley House before the teenage boy was seen running out, down the stairs and outside, at 1.42am. Mr Garbutt’s brother raised the alarm after finding his body at round 2.15am.