Murder Trial of Anxiang Du Opens (Northampton)

Anxiang Du-1432677

A two week trial into the alleged murder of a family-of-four, started yesterday at Northampton Crown Court.

Anxiang Du, aged 54, from Witnell Road, Coventry, stands accused of four counts of murder on 29 April 2011, at the Ding family home in Pioneer Close, Wootton, Northampton.

On the first day of the trial, a jury of eight women and four men, were sworn in and the prosecution began their opening statement by William Harbage QC.

Du was bought into the court by five security guards and sat through proceedings listening with the help of a Mandarin interpreter.

Family members of the Dings also attended the first day of trial and listened through an interpreter.

Residents from Pioneer Close also attended the trial.

The jury heard in the opening statement details of a long running business dispute between the Ding and Du family in the ten years before their deaths.

They were informed of how Du had initially won a legal battle but then lost the last legal dispute and was left with a huge sum of money to pay in costs.

The jury heard how the relationship between the Ding and Du family initially developed and then fell apart.

The jury were later told of how Du travelled from Coventry onto Birmingham, where he owned a shop, left a ‘farewell note’ and then onto Northampton where the family are believed to have been murdered.

Du is then accused of having taken a hire car being used by the Ding family, to travel to London, a coach from London to Paris, from Paris to Spain and then a ferry from Algeciras to Tangiers in Morocco. He was later arrested in Morocco on 7 July 2012 and then extradited to the UK on 20 February, 2013.

Pathologist Guy Rutty gave evidence on how the family each suffered numerous stab wounds and died as a result of the wounds.

Du remains on trial having plead not guilty to murdering Jifeng Ding, 46, Helen Chui, 47, and their children Xing, 18, and 12-year-old Alice

The trial continues.

Comments for this article are suspended and will not appear for legal reasons. 

(Visited 39 times, 1 visits today)