Men accused of Connor Brookes murder in Walsall were 'in it together', court heard
The prosecution in the case of the murder of Walsall scrap metal dealer Connor Brookes said all four defendants were 'In it together'
Three men are accused of the murder of the 20-year-old, who suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head as he sat in his van in Well Lane Blakenall near Bloxwich on July 8 last year.
They are also accused of the attempted murder of his friend Bradley Sladyszyn who was sitting beside them and was shot in the shoulder in the same incident, needing treatment at hospital.
The first day of the trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Julian Falconer, Jake Sanbrook, Byron Sellick carried out the killing and covered it up as a 'joint enterprise,' with Samuel Danks-Petty in on the planning.
Falconer, aged 20, of Wyrley Close, Willenhall; Sanbrook, aged 23 of Fisher Road, Bloxwich and Sellick, aged 20, of no fixed abode, are charged with the murder of Connor Brookes and the attempted murder of Bradley Sladyszyn as well as having a shotgun in their possession with intent to endanger life.
Danks-Petty, of Buildwas Close, Walsall is accused of intent to pervert the course of justice.
All four men deny all charges.
Opening the case Michael Burrows KC said: "This was a case of joint enterprise, there had already been another shooting carried out in the area shortly before the one which killed Connor Brookes and we say it was linked to the defendants.
"All of them were in it together which we will try to prove. CCTV evidence shows Falconer, Sanbrook and Sellick in the car and phone records link Danks-Petty to the Black Ford Focus car after the shooting.
"It is clear they all knew about the gun and trusted each other not to go to the police, the evidence is there on the CCTV.
"Sanbrook accepts he was in the car but not at the time of the shooting; Falconer accepts he was the front seat passenger driven by Sellick and Falconer says he was in the back of the car but didn't realise there was a gun in there.
"We accept Danks-Petty was not in the car at the time of the shooting as he had a driving lesson but his phone was connected to the car shortly after it happened."
The court heard Sanbrook, Sellick and Falconer had met earlier at Sanbrook's house in Fisher Road, close to where the alleged shooting was carried out.
The three then made a trip to Euro Car Parts in Wednesfield with another man who worked there to collect brake pads.
After the shooting, which provoked an outpouring of grief in the community around Blakenall and Bloxwich, the car was hidden in Collingwood Close in the Great Wyrley area.
Sanbrook was arrested on August 3 and remanded in custody where he was quizzed about the location of the weapon - a 12-gauge shotgun - which was found by a police search team with a sniffer dog in undergrowth in a 'triangle' of remote lanes including Wiley and Fishley Lane.
The trial continues.