Father tracked moped of son accused of Norfolk teen's murder

Suffolk teens Alfie Hammett and Joshua Howell have both been charged with the murder of 18-year-old Raymond James Quigley, from Wymondham, on January 17 in Westgate Street, Ipswich.

Hammett, 19, of Larkhill Rise, Rushmere St Andrew, and Howell, 18, of Wellington Street, Ipswich, are also charged with possession of an offensive weapon in a public place. They both deny the charges.

Shaun Hammett, the father of Alfie Hammett and also of Larkhill Rise, told Ipswich Crown Court on Thursday that he secretly fitted the device a few weeks before the alleged murder happened.

Police were able to use the information from the tracker to show the moped had been parked at Bishops Hill and after that were able to follow on CCTV the journey of a suspect they have called ‘Male One’.

Raymond James Quigley, from Wymondham, who died after being stabbed in Ipswich (Image: Suffolk Constabulary)

The prosecution say Male One is Alfie Hammett.  

Shaun Hammett told the court he had fitted the device without telling his son and when he saw there had been a stabbing in the town centre on social media on January 17 he said to his son: “I hope you haven’t had nothing to do with what’s happened in town this afternoon.”

But he said Alfie was sitting on his bed playing with his computer and just looked at him and said “no”.

The court heard Alfie said he had been in town at a sports shop to buy boxing headgear but the father said he saw no headgear.  

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Shaun said the next day when they were in the car together he asked Alfie about where he had really been on the afternoon of the stabbing and at first he didn’t reply.

Then the court heard he told his son he knew he had parked the moped on Bishops Hill.

Westgate Street in Ipswich town centre after the stabbing of Raymond James Quigley (Image: Newsquest)

Alfie at first denied it had been parked there but when Shaun said he knew it had been, Alfie said he had gone there to see a girl, the court heard.

Shaun said that when he told Alfie he had put a tracker on the bike, Alfie “looked a bit shocked”.

He said when he heard on January 19 through social media the person who had been killed was from the Norwich area alarm bells rang in his head again that Alfie might be involved.

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The court heard he asked Alfie again if he had anything to do with it but he said no and said he did not know Raymond James Quigley but knew his brother.

The jury had earlier been told by the prosecution that a feud between gangs from Norwich and Ipswich was central to the case.

The trial continues.