Two men caused death of fellow burglar, trial told

Two men effectively caused the death of a fellow burglar during a violent raid on a property in Nottinghamshire, a trial has heard.

Taylor Green, 22, was found with fatal injuries on 25 February 2025 at a chalet off Lodge Lane Industrial Estate in Tuxford.

David McCandless, 44, of Wright Street in Newark, and Mason Meanwell, 25, of Byron Close, Newark, have been charged with manslaughter, which they deny.

At Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday, the prosecution said they planned and carried out a violent burglary, creating a situation in which Green was stabbed as the householder defended himself in a legally justified way.

The prosecution previously told a jury that Green, Meanwell and McCandless, and an unidentified fourth man, "smashed" through the front door of the "very isolated" mobile home of Ethan Arnold.

The men, who were allegedly armed with baseball bats, a machete and an axe, were shouting "chop him, chop him, get the money" as they ran into the bedroom, the court was told.

The prosecution said Arnold picked up a knife he kept by the bed and Green was stabbed by him in the resulting confrontation.

The court was played Arnold's 999 call in which he described men in balaclavas forcing their way into his bedroom and being attacked.

In the recording he said: "I think I stabbed one of them because there is blood everywhere.

"They said, 'where is the money?' But I don't have money."

Christopher Donnellan KC, prosecuting, told jurors the defendants had targeted the mobile home believing there was cash inside, saying "violence and damage was anticipated and inflicted".

They bore responsibility for creating an illegal, dangerous situation, he told the jury, by going armed and bursting into the property, smashing up the television and attacking Arnold and his girlfriend.

"Ethan Arnold was defending himself from what they had set in train," Donnellan said.

While Arnold was legally justified in his actions, Donnellan added, Meanwell and McCandless's planning and execution of an illegal, deliberately violent act which resulted in a death - regardless of who that was - justified a charge of manslaughter, the court heard.

Meanwell previously admitted conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary, while McCandless has denied the same charge.

The trial continues.

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