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Birmingham riots: Lawyers to review trial after three men killed by car

PUBLISHED July 26, 2012
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Haroon Jahan and brothers Shazad Ali and Abdul Musavir died after being hit by a Mazda car as they tried to protect shops in Winson Green, Birmingham, from looters last August.

Eight men were accused of murdering the three friends in a "modern day chariot charge" but were acquitted by a jury last Thursday, following a lengthy trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

Haroon's father Tariq Jahan, who made an emotional plea for calm just hours after the deaths, said today: "The community did not let us down. The law however, has."

He added: "Our sense of disappointment over this verdict cannot be stated in words."

Addressing a press conference at a Winson Green community centre, Mr Jahan spoke of his disappointment that no-one had been held responsible the deaths.

He said: "To our utter shock and despair, on Thursday 19 July, the jury acquitted all eight men. This is no answer for us.

"It simply means that no one has been held accountable for what happened.

"Whilst the accused celebrated and showered themselves in champagne, we bathed in tears of pain and sorrow.

"Our grieving continues."

Mr Jahan added: "We are no longer able to trust the criminal justice system to provide the answers we so desperately need.

"We have therefore instructed lawyers to review the criminal trial and the events that led to the death of our sons.

"We will not rest until the people responsible for the deaths of Haroon, Shazad and Musavir have been brought to justice and we are able to get the answers we need to be able to grieve in peace.

"We will not let our sons down."

Haroon Jahan, 20, Shazad Ali, 31, and Abdul Musavir, 30, were protecting local businesses when it was claimed they were deliberatly mown down in a modern-day equivalent of a "chariot charge" involving three cars in Winson Green, Birmingham.

Last week Ryan Goodwin, Shaun Flynn, Juan Ruiz-Gaviria, Joshua Donald, Everton Graham, Adam King, Ian Beckford and Aaron Parkins all were acquited of murder.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it was investigating the conduct of Detective Chief Inspector Anthony Tagg, who led the inquiry.

After the verdicts, the trial judge, Mr Justice Flaux appealed for calm on the streets of Birmingham and urged people to respect the jury's findings.

The judge said: "On any view, this has been a terrible case - a tragic and pointless loss of three young lives.

"However, by their verdicts the jury have decided that this was not a deliberate killing, that there was no plan to kill these three young men.

"The jury have decided that this was a terrible accident."

The prosecution alleged that all eight defendants were party to a plan to drive a vehicle at a crowd of people in Dudley Road, Winson Green, in the early hours of August 10.

It was alleged that a Ford Fiesta and an Audi car were used to lure pedestrians into the road, where they were hit by a Mazda.

The deaths came against a backdrop of clashes between the Asian and black communities, with gangs seen roaming around the streets looking for places to loot, whilst shopkeepers and members of the community tried to repel them by throwing objects at their cars.

CCTV footage showed three cars apparently lining up next to each other and following what the prosecution claimed was a deliberate hand signal, racing off. Beckford, 30, the driver of the Mazda, hit the crowd, but claimed in his evidence it wasn't deliberate and that he was a friend of the three men who died.

He said his car had been attacked and he was worried about being blocked in by the crowd.

Hours after the deaths, Mr Jahan's father, Tariq, who tended his dying son in the street, made an emotional appeal to groups of youths gathered outside his home in Winson Green.

His call for calm was credited with helping to bring an end to the riots and he later received an award for his compassion and dignity in the aftermath of his son's death.

Much of the case rested on telephone evidence between the men and CCTV footage which the Crown claimed showed an orchestrated three-car "chariot charge" planned in the minutes leading up to the fatal impact.

The prosecution claimed two cars were used to deliberately lure the crowd into the street, while the Mazda then drive into it.

But the defendants described the claims of a murderous plan being hatched in a three-minute "window" prior to the deaths as implausible speculation which had put innocent men in the dock.

The three men driving the cars - Ian Beckford, Adam King and Joshua Donald - and their passengers variously described the prosecution's claim as "ridiculous" and "utter rubbish".

It was also argued by the defence that the three cars were under attack from a crowd, some masked and armed with sticks, bricks and, in one case, a sword.

Paul Lewis QC, who defended Beckford, said the fatal collision happened when the three cars involved were "under serious attack" from groups of men throwing bricks and missiles from both sides of the road.

The QC told jurors: "It occurred as the three unfortunate victims themselves stepped further into the road to attack the cars. It was a tragedy but it was an accident nonetheless."

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