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Preparations for Dudley drive-by murder 'were caught on camera'

Eight men accused of conspiring to murder a taxi firm boss as part of a family feud were caught on camera making preparations for the drive-by shooting, a court was told.

Published
Police in Queens Cross where Mohammed Haroon Zeb, inset, was shot

Mohammed Haroon Zeb, known as Haroon or H, was shot in the head at point-blank range in a drive-by attack in Queens Cross, Dudley, on his 39th birthday on January 31 this year. He died in hospital the following day.

Giving evidence Detective Sergeant Andrew McDonald, of West Midlands Police, told Wolverhampton Crown Court that Hassan Tasleem, Gurdeep Sandhu and Choudhary Akeel Hussain were filmed "toing and froing" in vehicles outside a property in the town's Brooke Street.

The defendants were captured by a street camera arriving in convoy with a distinctive dark-coloured Land Rover Discovery, a VW Golf and a BMW shortly after 4pm on January 29.

Among the images shown to the jury were pictures of a man, who was not named in court, alighting the dark coloured BMW who then proceeded to put tints on the Golf's windows before leaving.

Det Sgt McDonald said: "We see the Golf arriving, then a Land Rover Discovery and a dark BMW 3 Series coupe. These vehicles park up. The person from the BMW starts to carry out tinting of the front two side windows of the Golf."

He said Tasleem, Sandhu and Akeel who were allegedly captured on the footage were part of the sequence of events.

Mohammed Haroon Zeb was aged 39 and had four children

The prosecution allege that the father of four was killed as a result of a long-running dispute between two families - one from Claughton and one from Himley Road - that escalated from street disorder with knives to murder and maiming. The eight men on trial for conspiracy to murder are all said to be part of a gang from the Claughton area of Dudley.

The jury was previously told that the escalation in violence appeared to have been triggered by an incident on January 20 when Akeel was struck by a car in Dudley High Street, resulting in an ankle injury.

Akeel's brother Nabeel Choudhary was convicted of the so-called “Golden City” murder of Yassir Hussain on December 4, 2018. Yassir Hussain, who was visiting from Burnley, died from stab wounds following an incident in Central Drive, Dudley.

The jury has also heard that an appeal relating to that case had been rejected and that tensions had heightened between the feuding groups.

The following eight suspects, all from Dudley, are on trial charged with conspiracy to murder:

  • Hassan Tasleem, 24, of Richmond Road

  • Arkarsh Tasleem, 26, of Shaw Road

  • Choudhary Naheim Rashid, 47, of Kingswinford Road

  • Choudhary Akeel Hussain, 21, of Brooke Street

  • Gurdeep Sandhu, 23, of Blowers Green Road

  • Mohammed Rafiq, 20, of Gammage Street

  • Umar Ali, 20, of Blowers Green Road

  • Shamraz Ali, 20, of Tanfield Road

A ninth suspect is believed to have fled the country before he could be arrested.

Rashid, Sandhu, Hassan Tasleem and Umar Ali are also charged with possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Sanna Iqbal, 27, of Hordern Road, Wolverhampton,is charged with assisting an offender - relating to Hassan Tasleem. All nine deny the charges.

The trial continues.

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