Four men acquitted of attempted murder after car hit by gunfire
Four men have been acquitted of attempted murder after a car was hit by gunfire and up to 15 men supposedly tried to kill its driver.
The four Walsall men had allegedly been identified by Arqash Zaffer who was the target of the attack, which took place in Camden Street, Caldmore, around 6.45pm.
A jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court found Rohail Ali, aged 21, Zubair Mehmood, 20, Amar Shazad, 30, and Mohammed Akram, 32, not guilty of all charges against them.
They had denied any involvement in the incident.
Mr Zaffer told the court that as he and three passengers got out of a Mercedes up to 15 people, some apparently armed with machetes, axes and hammers, emerged from nearby Arena Park.
He was kept in hospital for eight days after the incident in March last year but none of those in the car reported it to police.
Under cross examination he conceded he had difficulty remembering who did what but denied a claim from Mr Paul Lazarus, defending Mehmood, that he had been looking for a confrontation with people and was now too frightened to identify the real culprits.
An earlier attempt to start the trial ended when Mr Zaffer failed to give evidence and he admitted he only appeared this time because he faced arrest if he had not.
Kieron Eddy was allegedly threatened with a shotgun after a silver Audi A3 pulled up alongside him as he walked down Weston Street, Fullbrook, also Walsall, on October 26 last year.
He initially told police that Mehmood had the weapon and the car was driven by Ali but when giving evidence to the court revealed he may have been mistaken in identifying them.
He also maintained he could not remember what happened during the alleged confrontation.
Both Ali and Mehmood denied the allegations and were both cleared of possession of a shotgun.
Ali from Rutter Street, Mehmood of Arundel Street, Shazad from Victor Street and Akram of Primley Avenue, were each acquitted of attempting to murder Mr Zaffer and possession of a shotgun during the alleged attack on March 8.
Shazad was also cleared of possession of a machete as was Akram who had been accused of being in possession of a blunt instrument.
