Accused tells how pal was shot dead

A man wept as he told a jury of the moment he shot dead his close friend in a Wolverhampton house.

Nathan Hamilton claimed not to have realised that he had a gun in his hand when tragedy struck as he pulled the weapon out of a bag found on the floor of his friend's bedroom in Orslow Walk, Park Village.

The 29-year-old described "everything happening so quickly" and his "ears ringing" as he saw 17-year-old Raheem Hines-Thomas grab his chest.

Hamilton said he had just heard that his younger brother Parisse had been attacked hours earlier by members of the Firetown gang from Heath Town, who were rivals of the Park Village crew to which Raheem and his twin brother Ramon supposedly belonged. He told the jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday: "I was devastated and sat down on one of the beds.

"Raheem was sitting next to his brother on the opposite bed. I saw a bag on the floor and could see something in it. I put my right hand in and took hold of the item. It felt hard. I took out the item with one hand. It was covered by two plastic bags, I think.

"I said 'what's this?' but nobody answered me. The mood in the room went a lot quieter. I tried to unwrap it, everything happened so quickly and my ears started ringing. I was not deliberately pointing it. I do not remember how I was holding it.

"I saw the twin grab hold of his chest. I saw the blood and just grabbed him.

"It was instinct. His brother Ramon grabbed him as well."

Hamilton, of Elmhurst Court, Wednesbury, added: "I was in shock."

Mr John Cooper QC, defending, asked his client: "Do you know what happened to the item, the gun as we now know it was?"

Hamilton replied: "No."

Mr Cooper added: "You never saw the gun or the holdall it was in again?"

Hamilton replied: "No."

Mr Hines-Thomas was driven to New Cross Hospital but could not be saved. Hamilton gave himself up to the police two days later and has insisted that the shooting was an accident.

Mr Graham Reeds QC, prosecuting, claimed that Hamilton took the bag containing the gun to the bedroom where members of the Park Village crew were allegedly plotting revenge against the rival Firetown gang for beating up Hamilton's brother.

Mr Reeds insisted that the fatal shot was fired when the defendant was either recklessly fooling around or pulled the trigger without checking if it was loaded.

Hamilton has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and also denies possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

The trial continues.