Diwali murder accused allegedly switched clothing after collision
Detectives used CCTV to track defendant's car.
A man accused of twice running over a father-to-be at Diwali celebrations allegedly switched clothes after the incident, a court heard.
Jashan Singh, aged 21, also known as Jashanpreet Singh, of Cannock Road in Westcroft near Wolverhampton is accused of murdering Navpreet Singh after a fight between two groups in the Phoenix Park parking bays off Dudley Road in Blakenhall on October 22 last year.
On Wednesday the jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court watched CCTV footage of the aftermath of the hit-and-run including video clips of men arriving separately in cars at Longacre Industrial Estate in Willenhall within half an hour of the fatal collision.
The jury was told the people and the cars were “consistent” with Jashan Singh and some of the people he was with at the time when his white Mercedes coupe struck the 26-year-old and left the scene.
Mr Timothy Hannam KC, prosecuting, also outlined the route the Mercedes took. Security cameras showed a car matching it ignoring red lights at Fighting Cocks junction where it overtook a waiting vehicle before turning left to Parkfield Road. It was then seen travelling through Ettingshall to Willenhall Road, then along Deans Road to Bentley Bridge, before heading along Fibbersley to Noose Lane before meeting up with someone in a blue BMW in East Acre in Rose Hill.
The jury was told some of the group arrived in a Ford Fiesta and a Vauxhall Corsa and were pictured swapping clothing and that the items were consistent with clothing worn by some of the persons earlier that evening.
The jury was previously told that Navpreet Singh, a father-to-be, had been drinking with his friends some of whom had been letting off fireworks and made a number of trips to a nearby petrol station prior to the incident. His friends put him in a car and transported him to hospital, but he died shortly after arrival.
He had suffered multiple fractures and extensive internal injuries.
The previous day the park had hosted one of the city’s biggest Diwali events attracting thousands of people to the area.
Jashan Singh is on trial accused of murder and an alternative count of causing death by dangerous driving.
He and Mohit Singh, aged 18, of Tangmere Close, Ettingshall, are both accused of perverting the course of justice in that they swapped items of clothing to avoid detection or arrest by police.
Mohit Singh is also accused of violent disorder. While a third defendant Prabhjot Singh, aged 18, of Hounslow, pleaded guilty to an offence of violent disorder and will be sentenced at a later date, following the trial.
Then trial continues.