Driver 'dragged victim by shoulder bag strap' along West Bromwich street
An angry driver dragged a pedestrian more than 150 yards up a high street until he fell from the vehicle, suffering catastrophic head injuries, a murder trial heard.
Paul Emmerson, 38, held onto the victim by the strap of his shoulder bag as he drove through West Bromwich town centre, it was claimed.
Mohammed Miah, from Tipton, struggled to keep up and at one point was ‘whipped off his feet into an almost horizontal position’, said Mr Michael Duck, QC, prosecuting.
The 22-year-old eventually fell from the vehicle as it accelerated through red traffic lights at the junction of High Street and Trinity Way, landing heavily. He died later in hospital.
The late-night attack in the early hours of March 17 took place after the two men, who were unknown to each other, were seen to exchange words when Mr Miah approached Emmerson’s Volkswagen Caddy outside the Prince of Wales pub, George Street.
CCTV footage showed Emmerson accelerate towards Trinity Way, before crossing on red lights and speeding away without stopping after Mr Miah fell.
Mr Duck said: “What else can he have intended if not to kill or cause him very serious physical harm?
“Mr Miah was wearing a bag across his shoulder and the prosecution say it was that which held him to the van. Mr Emmerson had a firm grip of him and refused to let him go.”
The CCTV footage of the defendant, who was with a passenger, failing to stop after Mr Miah fell into the road was a ‘telling piece of evidence’ he told Birmingham Crown Court.
Paramedics treated the casualty at the scene before taking him to hospital but he died just after noon that day.
Emmerson, of Kemp Road, Kitts Green, denies murder.
The trial continues.
