CCTV expert shows jury painstakingly detailed picture timeline of the day Connor Brookes was shot dead

The jury in the trial of the trio accused of murdering Connor were shown a minute-by-minute picture time line compiled by CCTV experts from West Midlands Police. 

Julian Falconer, 20, Jake Sanbrook, 23, and Byron Sellick, 20, are on trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court for murdering 20-year-old Connor on July 8 last year and the attempted murder of his friend Bradley Sladyszyn.

Connor died after being blasted by a shotgun suffering a catastrophic head injury whilst Bradley was hit on the shoulder as the pair sat in a van in Well Lane Blakenall near Bloxwich around 8pm.

The prosecution allege the killing was in retaliation to the murder of Bailey Atkinson who was stabbed to death in Walsall town centre on January 28, 2023. Connor's brother Patrick and six others were convicted of his murder last year.

Falconer, of Wyrley Close, Willenhall; Sanbrook, of Fisher Road, Bloxwich and Sellick, of no fixed abode,  are also charged with possessing a shotgun with intent to endanger life.

Samuel Danks-Petty, 20, of Buildwas Close, Walsall is accused of intent to pervert the course of justice. 

A team of detectives pinpointed hundreds of individual cameras throughout Walsall and requested access to the footage.  

Painstakingly piecing together over 700 still images the team collated their evidence into a mini-booklet for the jurors to keep so they can cross-reference the time, place and image with evidence from the police. 

West Midlands Police's homicide department's CCTV coordinator Spencer Jenkins was the prosecution's first witness and will giving evidence for several days. 

Each of the defendants were given a colour profile so jurors could follow their movements as Mr Jenkins explained the relevance of each picture.

The car used in the shooting was a black Ford Focus which had been stolen in Coventry two weeks prior and fitted with false number plates. 

The three accused of murder met at Sanbrook's house in Fisher Road. Pictures of the three and others, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, in the garden and picking up a yellow box which police believe contained the murder weapon - a shotgun.

Mr Jenkins told the jury: "As you can see there is a yellow box shape. You can see the item was carried and put in the boot of the Ford Focus. Falconer, Sanbrook and Sellick can be seen walking towards the car. Sanbrook can be seen getting opening the door and sitting in the driving seat.

"Falconer and Sellick can be seen getting in the rear passenger seat."

Ten minutes before Brookes fatal shooting, the Ford Focus was involved in another shooting incident, at Stephenson Avenue, which the prosecution alleged proves all three knew there was a gun in the car.  

The Ford Focus was captured by cameras throughout Walsall and crucially, the seconds before the shooting entering Mill Lane, by a camera footage which showed the rear passenger window being wound down in preparation for the shooting.

Seconds later a camera outside the Oak supermarket, Well Lane, picked loud bangs and tyres screeching.

Prosecutor James Burrows KC said: "That was Connor being shot and killed." 

Falconer, Sanbrook, Sellick and Danks-Petty deny all charges. 

The trial continues.