Man denies shooting two men dead after car was damaged, Wolverhampton trial told
Mohammed Maneer Khan denies murder as his trial opens at Wolverhampton Crown Court
A jury has heard how a gunman shot two men dead in Wolverhampton moments after they allegedly damaged a parked car, a court has been told.
39-year-old Mohammed Maneer Khan is accused of shooting Duaine Mills and Syed Zain Ali in the head as they tried to drive off in an Audi A4, seconds after the pair had allegedly attacked a parked Audi RS6 in the city.
The trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court heard on Thursday that Khan denies two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, but has admitted fraud after trying to obtain a passport in a false name.
What the prosecution alleges
Opening the case against Khan, prosecutor Michael Burrows KC said a minute-long attack on the Audi RS6, involving a bar and a hammer, happened seconds before the shooting in Harrow Street, Whitmore Reans.
The prosecutor also alleged the damage caused to the car was linked to an incident a month earlier in Manchester, in which a vehicle was also damaged.
Outlining the events leading up to the shooting in the early hours of 19th September last year, Mr Burrows said Mr Mills, Mr Ali and a third man named Sahil Idrees had driven into Harrow Street in a silver Audi A4 shortly after 3am.
"They got out of their car and attacked and damaged another Audi, a black RS6 parked further along Harrow Street," Mr Burrows told the court.
"They ran back to their car. Syed Zain Ali got into the driver's seat. Duaine Mills got into the front passenger seat and Sahil Idrees got into the back," Mr Burrows said.
"Syed Zain Ali started the car and tried to drive away. CCTV shows a man ran along Harrow Street towards them," Mr Burrows said.
The prosecution alleges the gunman was Khan, and that he had been driving the Audi RS6, which belonged to someone else, in the days leading up to the killings.
"The man stopped and held up a handgun. He fired it eight times at the men in the car," Mr Burrows said.
"The shots killed the two men in the front. Their car lurched forward and crashed into the side of a parked van. Sahil Idrees, in the back, was not hurt," Mr Burrows said.
The court heard Khan was living at an address nearby on Great Hampton Street.
28-year-old Mr Mills died at the scene of the shooting, having suffered a head wound, the court heard. 32-year-old Mr Ali suffered what was described as an "unsurvivable" brain injury and died five days later.
"The gunman did not shoot just anybody at random. He shot the people who had just attacked and damaged a car, the black Audi RS6," Mr Burrows told the jury.
Mr Burrows said the car was damaged after the occupants of the Audi A4 "thought about the incident in Manchester" and decided to cause damage to it.
The passport allegations
Two other defendants deny perverting the course of justice in relation to the alleged fraudulent attempt to obtain a passport in the weeks following the shooting.
35-year-old Yaseen Patel, of Bromford Way, Birmingham, and 43-year-old Samir Patel, of St Catharines Close, Walsall, both deny doing acts intended to pervert the course of justice between 18th September and 21st November last year.
The trial heard that two months after the shooting, on 20th November, Khan went to the Passport Office in Birmingham to be interviewed in relation to an application for a passport in the name of Samir Patel.
"The prosecution say he knew he was a wanted man and tried to get a passport in a false name so he could leave the country and escape justice for these murders," Mr Burrows told jurors.
"He went to the Passport Office with Yaseen Patel. The prosecution say Yaseen Patel was helping Maneer Khan to get a passport in a false name," Mr Burrows said.
"Samir Patel is a real person. The prosecution say he too was in on the attempt to help Maneer Khan to get a passport in a false name. He provided his details for the application along with a photograph of Maneer Khan, who had changed his appearance so as to match better the real Samir Patel," Mr Burrows said.
The defence case
Summarising what he understood the men would put forward in their defence, Mr Burrows said Khan denies he was the gunman.
Samir Patel maintains he was applying for a passport for himself, while Yaseen Patel "only knew Maneer Khan as Samir Patel, did not know he was wanted for any shooting and did not know the real Samir Patel", according to the prosecution's account.
Mr Burrows alleged Samir Patel had "literally leant his name" to the fraud.
Concluding his opening remarks, Mr Burrows said Khan had stopped using his phone number after initial calls made near the scene.
The prosecutor said Khan was named as a suspect by police on 21st September last year, and had changed his appearance by 23rd September.
"The prosecution submit that when you have heard all the evidence, you be sure that he was the gunman and that he is guilty of the murders," Mr Burrows said of Khan.
The trial continues.