Father heard 'fatal crash impact'
The father of a man who was killed in last summer’s riots when he was hit by a car has described hearing the fatal impact as he stood in a nearby street.
Haroon Jahan, 20, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, were hit by a black Mazda car during disorder in the Winson Green area of Birmingham in the early hours of August 10, as disorder swept across England. They were pronounced dead in hospital and eight men are charged with their murders.
Birmingham Crown Court heard that the three men had been part of a group gathered in the area to protect shops and businesses from looters.
Tariq Jahan told Birmingham Crown Court he and his two sons had joined other local men to “stand up” for the community on the evening of August 9.
Recalling the moment his son Haroon was hit by the car in Dudley Road, Mr Jahan told the jury he was outside his home in Winson Street talking to his wife, who was standing on the doorstep.
He said: “I heard the roar of an engine...a car was being driven at high speed.
“I carried on speaking to my wife but it was loud, it was late.
“I could hear the engine revving, it was getting closer.
“It went past the Winson Street junction. I heard the noise go past.
“(I heard) a loud thud. To me it sounded like a car crash, a car hitting something.”
Prosecutor Tim Spencer QC told the court Mr Jahan then made his way to the scene, where he was called over to his son’s body on the ground.
Opening the prosecution case last week Mr Spencer said the deaths were not down to chance but came after a plan was hatched involving three cars – a Mazda, a Ford Fiesta and an Audi.
Jurors watched CCTV footage of the impact, which clearly shows the three men being flung into the air after they were hit by the car shortly after 1.15am.
The prosecutor described the collision as “the modern day equivalent of a chariot charge”.
Ryan Goodwin, 21, Shaun Flynn, 26, Juan Ruiz-Gaviria, 31, Joshua Donald, 27, Everton Graham, 30, Adam King, 24, Ian Beckford, 30, and Aaron Parkins, 18, all deny three counts of murder.
Mr Spencer told the court that the Audi was driven by King.
Goodwin, Flynn and Ruiz-Gaviria were passengers in the car, he said.
The prosecutor said the Fiesta was driven by Donald, with Parkins as a passenger, and the Mazda was driven by Beckford, with Graham seated in the front passenger seat.
