Jury chosen for major trial over Walsall violent disorder in which one man was shot and three were stabbed
A jury has been selected for a major trial concerning violent disorder in Walsall which left one man shot and three others stabbed.
Eight men are charged with several offences concerning the shocking outbreak of violence at Reedswood Lane, Old Birchills, on July 31 last year.
The trial, which will officially begin on Monday (April 28) is slated to last eight weeks and is one of the biggest of its kind at Wolverhampton Crown Court this year.
Justice Michael Chambers is presiding over the case and due to the amount of defendants the trial has been moved to the biggest courtroom in the building.
Mohammed Sajid, aged 38, of Exeter Place, Alumwell; Amar Shazad, aged 37, of Victor Street, Caldmore; Hezar Tyaiz, aged 20, of Alumwell Road, Alumwell; Khurham Sajad, aged 23, of Hucker Road, Pleck; Shazad Mahmood, aged 45, of Drayton Street; and Waheed Ayub, aged 28, of Westbourne Street, Butts; previously pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to murder, together with others unknown.
Umar Siddique, aged 24, of Mount Street, Caldmore, is charged with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and assisting an offender.
Iyaiz, Sajad and Ayub have also pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, possessing a shotgun and possessing a blade.
Mahmood also denies possessing a shotgun, possessing a blade and possessing an offensive weapon. Kamron Moore, aged 22 and of Deepmore Avenue, Reedswood, also pleaded not guilty to possessing a shotgun and possessing an offensive weapon. Amar Shazhad also pleaded not guilty to possessing a shotgun.
The disorder shortly before midnight on July 31 was allegedly the culmination of disagreements and attacks between two gangs, many with family connections, around the Old Birchills area.
The prosecution will tell jurors four men were taken to hospital following reports of men armed with machetes, baseball and cricket bats and a shot being fired at a car in Reedswood Lane.
Such was the scale of the violence and the threat to public order, Walsall Police invoked section 60 stop-and-search powers and closed Reedswood Close off to the public for several hours.
Justice Chambers told the jury: "You have been chosen to be the jury in this long and complicated case. Thank you for your cooperation. We will be back here on Monday morning when the prosecution will open their case against the defendants."