Murder-accused describes firing fatal shots during Brierley Hill crossbow killings
A man accused of a double murder has admitted firing a crossbow twice during a brawl at a cannabis farm but said he did not intend to kill anyone.
Khuzaimah Douglas, 19, and Waseem Ramzan, 36, were fatally injured during the fight in the early hours of February 20 last year in Pensnett Road, Brierley Hill.
Mr Douglas died at the scene after allegedly being part of an attempted robbery of a cannabis factory, while Mr Ramzan died in hospital after being mistakenly hit by his brother Saghawat's crossbow as the siblings fought off the raiders.
Saghawat Ramzan, 46, and his son Omar Ramzan, 23, are accused of murdering the two men along with 33-year-old Sageer Mohammed.
Giving evidence on Friday afternoon, Saghawat Ramzan admitted firing the crossbow twice but said he did so "in defence mode" fearing that Mr Douglas was about to stab his brother.
He told Wolverhampton Crown Court that he and his son Omar lived in one house on Pensnett Road, his parents and brother Waseem lived in another and the family rented out a house to a couple at number 94.
Saghawat told the jury his family owned more than 20 properties in the area but said he was not aware of cannabis being grown at number 94.
He told the jury he had been an "enthusiast of weaponry" from a young age and used crossbows for target practice.
The case so far:
He said: "The large crossbow was mine. I have had crossbows all my life and as they break, wear and tear, you replace them. I used it for target practice. I have a big apple and pear tree in my garden, the rotting ones I would use it to fire them at, same with the air rifle.
"The small crossbow is mine too. It was not a Samurai sword I had, it was ornamental – it does not have a sharp blade."
He said the night before the incident he had gone to bed at 10pm – but was woken up by "lots of noise". He checked cameras and said he could see "a lot of people scaling my garden and alongside next door, all wearing balaclavas".
He said: "The first thing I thought was that we are getting robbed. When I saw what I saw on the cameras I went into defence mode, I needed to frighten them with something, the crossbow and ornamental sword were to hand. They were a deterrent, I had no intention of using them at the time, just everything escalated.
"I saw that person and I said to 'get off my f***ing property' and I fired it [crossbow] at the shed. I fired it to frighten them. He then scarpered. It was just me and Omar at the point, I did not see my brother.
"My brother then turned up. He started running to the front of the house and I followed. He rugby tackled someone and they started grappling.
"There was so much going on, people running out from the side, people from 94 trying to come out the back, I could hear smashing windows. There were lots of cars. It was like we were being ambushed.
"I saw Waseem struggling with Mr Douglas. I thought he had a knife and he was about to stab my brother.
"I fired both shots from the crossbow. I fired it first when they were both grappling with each other. When I thought he [Khuzaimah] was going for a knife, I fired it at his arm to stop him in his tracks. I thought hopefully it would get him off my brother, but obviously it did not work out that way. I did not see where the bolt went – it's very quick, they travel 275 feet per second from that particular crossbow.
"I did not see that it had hit anyone as they were still grappling. I did not think it had hit anyone at all. When I heard my brother scream, I thought he had been stabbed. I noticed the bolt on the floor, I thought it had misfired – I picked it up and reloaded. At that time my brother was not moving, my son was there and my father had turned up – I thought he [Khuzaimah] was going to stab someone else.
"I fired the second shot. I was aiming at his arm. I did not see it had hit him. My concern was my brother, I said to my son and Sageer 'let him go, my brother needs to go to hospital'. I did not think Mr Douglas was injured when he ran away.
"I did not intend to kill anyone that night."
All three defendants deny two counts of murder. The trial continues.
