'I didn't shoot anybody' accused double killer tells Wolverhampton jury

Mohammed Maneer Khan, 39, is on trial accused of the murders of Duaine Mills and Syed Zain Ali, who died of head injuries after being shot in Whitmore Reans in the early hours of September 19 last year. He is also accused of the attempted murder of Sahil Idrees, who was present when Mr Mills and Mr Ali were shot.

Both were shot in the head as they sat in the front seats of an Audi A4 in Harrow Street moments after they used weapons to damage the windows and paintwork of an Audi RS6 car parked nearby. Khan did not own the RS6 but had allegedly driven it earlier that night.

Taking the witness stand under oath on Monday morning (November 9) Khan, formerly of Great Hampton Street in Whitmore Reans, insisted that he was not the gunman responsible for shooting the alleged victims.

He told the trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court: “I most definitely did not shoot no-one. I did not go wait at my mother’s afterwards.”

Khan explained: “I found out that people were shot when I spoke to Raj Sandhu when he told me that the RS6 had been damaged. I called him. He said the car had been smashed up.

“I was confused about how that had happened because I’d been driving it. He said he saw a few masked people smashing up the car. I couldn’t understand why.”

Khan told the jury he did not go to the shooting scene.

“I was a disqualified driver. I wanted to distance myself from the shooting. I told Raj to take out any valuables which were inside the car.

“There was a phone, sunglasses and some keys in the car.”

The defendant accepted that he did not call West Midlands Police to report that he had a connection to the car. He told the jury he did not contact the police because he was serving a driving ban and that he was scared of being arrested for something he did not do.

Mr Mills, aged 28, died at the scene and Mr Ali, aged 32, died in hospital following the incident which happened at about 3am near Harrow Street’s junction with Leicester Street.

The prosecution alleges there had been an incident involving the people involved in the case in Manchester the previous month, during which a vehicle was damaged. The parties were captured on social media at the Steppers Assemble music festival in the northwest on August 25.

Khan, known as Manny, of St Catharine’s Close, Walsall, denies murdering Mr Mills and Mr Ali, attempting to murder Sahil Idrees and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Two other men are on trial accused of helping Khan obtain a false passport after the shooting, for which Khan has admitted a fraud offence.

Yaseen Patel, aged 35, of Bromford Way, Washwood Heath, Birmingham, and Samir Patel, aged 43, of St Catharine’s Close, Walsall, deny perverting the course of justice.

The trial continues.