University student in middle of Walsall disorder was acting in self-defence, trial told
A student accused of being in the middle of a street disorder said he took up a fight stance to defend himself after being punched.
Kevin Gill told the jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court, that he did not know why he was set upon at the start of the trouble which left several injured when violence erupted between two groups in Birchills, Walsall, on June 10, 2020.
Giving evidence on the witness stand today, the 23-year-old denied having any prior knowledge about the neighbour dispute.
Gill, a Wolverhampton University pharmaceutical student, also said he was not related to anyone in Lewis Street where the incident happened near the junction with Croft Street during the first Covid lockdown. And that he lived across town in Selborne Street, Chuckery.
"I was at home before the incident and I went to town to meet one of my best friends Mobashir. The plan was to chill inside his car. We saw his family out shopping and they asked for a lift home.
"When I arrived in the street I saw two men arguing with Mobashir's dad. I didn't know what they were arguing about. It was nothing to do with me. I thought I might be able to help to sort it out.
"I was just walking over with my phone in my hand and that was it. I'd never met the male who punched me. I don't know the reason why I punched. I ended up with a broken nose.
"I was dazed and I had a nose bleed.
"I backed away. I didn't want to be punched again. I saw a male coming with a cricket bat. I knew that if they were going to carry on punching, I knew that I was going to be hit.
"It was self-defence. If I had not raised my hand I would have got hit," Gill said.
Gill, and two others Adal Mohammed and Asam Hussain, both aged 24, are all accused of violent disorder relating to the incident which involved people hitting each other with weapons including cricket bats and poles outside a school and homes.
At least four people were hurt in the fighting.
The jury was previously shown footage of Gill dressed in a distinctive jacket amid one group as it advanced along the street in the melee that followed.
Gill, Mohammed and Hussain, both of Lewis Street, deny the allegations.
The trial continues.
