Trial jurors told alleged drive-by shooting victim was dealing drugs in Wolverhampton
Jurors in the case of an alleged drive-by shooting victim have been told he was a drug dealer in Wolverhampton.
Neo Graham, aged 24, was standing in a group on the pavement when he was struck by a bullet in Eastfield Road off Old Heath Road in Eastfields, Wolverhampton, on March 4, 2025 and died at the scene.
The suspected gunman Israel Mey fled the country and has never been arrested.
Five other defendants are on trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court in relation to the killing which happened in broad daylight.
In his directions to the jury ahead of the prosecution closing speech, Judge Michael Chambers KC said: "On any view there was a so-called drive-by shooting in Eastfield Road on Tues March 4, 2025 which occurred at 3.19pm. Neo Graham and two other men were standing next to an electricity box. We also know and it is common ground that they were drug dealers.
"We also know shots were fired with one of those hitting Neo Graham going through one side of his head and coming out the other side. The shot came from a passing car and from a Glock gun. It is common ground that it was fired by the front seat passenger Israel Mey and that he absconded abroad.
"It is also common ground that the car driver was Koketso Ximba. The prosecution case is that this was a planned shooting.
"The first three defendants Koketso Ximba, Deric Da Silva Ferreria and Fabio Bandarrinha were secondary parties to this.
"What they did, what they knew and what they intended are core issues of this case. The prosecution also says that other defendants Elie Mey and Aaron Osei are guilty of other offences which they deny.
"The issues of fact are for you to decide."
Ximba and Bandarrinha both gave defence evidence during the trial denying the allegations.
Koketso Ximba, aged 23, of Montano Drive; Deric Da Silva Ferreria, aged 20, of Fifth Avenue, both Low Hill; Fabio Bandarrinha, aged 21, of Powell Street, Park Village, all Wolverhampton, deny murder. Aaron Osei, aged 23, of South Road, Birmingham; and Elie Mey, aged 25, of Inkerman Street, also Wolverhampton deny assisting an offender.
Elie Mey previously pleaded guilty to possession off a gun and pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine. The others deny possessing a firearm; possessing of ammunition without a firearms certificate and possessing a controlled drug with intent to supply and possession of criminal property relating to a gun, a significant sum of cash, more than 300 wraps of crack cocaine, and a quantity of heroin being seized from a Nissan Juke carrying some of the defendants when it was stopped on March 5 last year.
The jury also heard that Israel Mey, Bandarrinha and Ximba headed to Scotland in the aftermath of the shooting. Bandarrinha returned to Wolverhampton while Israel Mey and Ximba caught a ferry to Belfast where Israel Mey alone caught a flight to Amsterdam.
Ximba was arrested in Liverpool when he attempted to return.
The trial continues.