Jaskaran Kang: Witness weeps as he recalls finding murder victim
A man told a jury how he feared for his life when two masked men brandishing Zombie-style knives burst into his bedroom demanding drugs after fatally stabbing his flatmate.
Alex Clarke wept as he recalled finding his friend bleeding to death on the landing following the attack above a convenience store in Brierley Hill where they lived.
He was in the bedroom with his girlfriend Capriest Timberlake only minutes after arriving home when he heard loud banging which turned out to be the front door being smashed in, he said.
He opened the bedroom door a couple of inches to see what was going on before retreating back into the room but two of the gang, wearing balaclavas and armed with 12in-bladed knives, burst in, Birmingham Crown Court heard.
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Mr Clarke backed away, crouching on the floor to show he was not going to show any resistance. "I was scared for my life – I'd got a sword or a knife in my face," he told the jury.
He described the weapon as a 'crazy-looking knife with jagged bits on the top, similar to a Zombie knife – it's one you don't want to see.'
Holding a knife to his neck, the men shouted at him 'Where's the food?' referring to the cannabis that the victim Jaskaran Kang and Mr Clarke regularly supplied via the convenience store below.
Minutes later, as he stood on a ladder to fetch the drugs from the loft, he could feel a blade against his waist, he told the court.
As the men shouted at him to hurry, he could hear Mr Kang urging him to hand over the cannabis, then pleading with his attackers: "Chill, chill, he's getting it for you."
The witness went on to describe finding his friend, who ran the Dudley Wines And More store on Stourbridge Road with his brother, bleeding to death on the landing after the gang had left.
"He was in the corridor leaning against the wall, bleeding everywhere – it was very very bad," he said. Mr Clarke then helped him inside the flat before contacting the emergency services.
He wiped away tears when asked whether he followed the ambulance service's advice about what to do to help the victim, replying: "I did the best I could."
In the dock are Dontay Ellis, 19, from Central Drive, Lower Gornal; Michael Cunningham, 18, of Coalway Road, Wolverhampton; Joshua Campbell, 18, of King Edmund Street, Dudley; and James Peake, 18, of Southgate Way, Dudley, who all plead not guilty to the murder, which happened on January 6 last year.
Also accused are Reggie Salmon, 21, of Stourbridge Road, Dudley, and Tyrone Johnson, 21, of Malthouse Drive, Dudley, who deny manslaughter.
Cunningham and Peake have admitted conspiracy to rob but the other four defendants deny the same charge, although Ellis has confessed to being at the scene.
The trial continues.
