Ronique Thomas ‘revealed his killer in his final moments amid stolen bike revenge plot’, court told

A man who was fatally stabbed in the street allegedly ‘revealed the nickname of his killer to a passersby in his final moments’, a court heard. Ronique Thomas was ‘murdered’ in Kings Heath in a revenge plot over his electric bike, a jury at Birmingham Crown Court was told. It is alleged Terrell Boyce, aged 18, Nathaniel Daly, 21 and Kody Stephenson, 20, hatched a plot to rob him of the vehicle which they spotted by chance outside 24/7 Express on the high street in the early hours of April 26 this year.

At court on Thursday, CCTV was shown which captured 33-year-old Mr Thomas running out of the shop and being chased down the road by two males, while a third stayed with the bike. The jury was told that after he was stabbed multiple times ‘he provided the nickname of the perpetrator’. Prosecutor Rebecca Wade Kc said: “In the last moments of his life he managed to reveal who his attacker was; T1, Terrell Boyce.

” Opening the case she said: “In the early hours of April 26 this year Ronique Thomas was stabbed to death in the Kings Heath area of Birmingham. We say it was these three defendants who were jointly responsible for the killing, all playing different yet important roles in the enterprise. “Why was Ronique Thomas killed? Ultimately the facts of the killing are for you 12 to determine.

We say the evidence points to a dispute over an electric bike being what sadly led to his tragic death. ” The court was told Mr Thomas, known as ‘Shabba’, bought the bike for £4,600 in 2022 and it was something he ‘valued significantly’. Ms Wade stated it had a ‘distinctive appearance’ with a blue flame and orange rubber trim but it was stolen outside of a shop in Gooch Street, Highgate in October last year.

The prosecutor stated the defendants were not accused of taking it, but that in February this year Mr Thomas’s girlfriend confronted a man who she saw riding it. The court heard she recognised it was Boyce who said he got the bike a few weeks earlier. The jury was told that a month later, in March, Mr Thomas saw Boyce on the bike and took it off him, later confirming it was the one he owned by checking the serial number.

It was alleged on April 7 Boyce went into the Town Crier pub in Birmingham and shouted ‘where’s Shabba?’ to Mr Thomas’s girlfriend before saying words to the effect of ‘he is dead’. Ms Wade said: “That incident shows the level of animosity held by the first defendant towards Mr Thomas only a few weeks before his death. That threat, the prosecution say, shows the motivation for the killing and shows the intent to kill or cause really serious harm.

” The court was told in the early hours of April 26 a taxi picked up the defendants and a female from Daly’s flat in Benmore Avenue, and drove them to Kings Heath where Stephenson lived. During a brief stop on the way the driver noticed Boyce was armed with a knife, it was alleged. Ms Wade said as they got to Kings Heath high street some time after 1.

30am Boyce noticed the electric bike outside 24/7 Express and shouted ‘stop, stop, stop’, prompting all three defendants to get out. The jury was told Mr Thomas glanced towards Boyce as he opened the shop door and left the keys to his bike on the counter. A CCTV compilation was played with footage showing Mr Thomas running from the shop.

The prosecutor alleged he was chased by Boyce with Daly pursuing behind and Stephenson going to the bike. Ms Wade said all three were party to a ‘plan to rob Ronique Thomas of the electric bike and make him pay for having had it back and make him pay by dishing out unlawful violence with a knife’. She told the court that Mr Thomas had a knife on him of his own but it ‘did not automatically give Terrell Boyce justification for using his in the manner he subsequently did’.

Ms Wade told the jury that Boyce lunged towards Mr Thomas multiple times with the victim falling to the floor and getting up more than once. She told the court Boyce was ‘not content’ with inflicting the first injury so he continued to pursue him. “Terrell Boyce was clearly after more blood when you look at his stance,” added Ms Wade who said Boyce took the victim’s man bag in the hunt for the bike key which was still in the shop.

She told the court that Boyce ‘having just fatally stabbed’ Mr Thomas, caught up with Daly and Stephenson at the latter’s home in Albert Road, Kings Heath. Ms Wade told the court that ‘by pure chance’ a West Midlands Police helicopter filmed the group take a taxi from that location to a block of flats, where an item was seen to be thrown out of the back. She stated police later recovered the item which was the alleged ‘murder weapon’ wrapped in clingfilm inside a yellow plastic bag.

Ms Wade said that Boyce had an ‘overwhelming desire for revenge’ while Daly backed him up in the chase to provide ‘extra manpower’. She stated Stephenson was ‘well aware and a participated in the plan’. Boyce, of Hazelwell Street, Birmingham, denies murder and robbery but has admitted manslaughter.

Daly, of Benmore Avenue, and Stephenson, of Albert Road, deny murder, manslaughter and robbery. The trial continues. .

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