Phone evidence links Oldbury brothers to drive-by murder journey, court told
Two Oldbury brothers accused of masterminding the execution of a father of eight in Birmingham took mobile phones to the drive-by shooting, giving prosecutors as tranche of evidence against them, a court was told.
Michael and Connor Goodwin are accused with two others of planning and carrying out the drive-by killing in 2018 of community football manager Anthony Sergeant.
The prosecution spent days at Birmingham Crown Court showing the jury detailed CCTV footage of the cars making the journey to Lea Bank on August 25 in 2018. They were then shown how mobile phone evidence allegedly mirrors the camera footage.
Prosecution witness Martin Griffiths is the co-founder of Forensic Analytics and a member of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences.
The former RAF man created a detailed report into all the cellular data from the defendants' handsets, which leave a footprint of where they have being because they continually have to connect to the nearest cell phone mast to be on the network.
Annabel Darlow QC, prosecuting, asked Mr Griffiths if his evidence showed Connor Goodwin's mobile phone near Five Ways Island in Birmingham at 9.30pm as the car he was allegedly travelling in to the shooting drove near a cell phone mast.
Mr Griffiths said: "Yes, the nearest mast to Five Ways Island picks up Mr Goodwin's phone, the data clearly shows that."
Brothers Connor Goodwin, 27, and brother Michael, 26, from Wallace Road in Oldbury, are on trial along with Leon Riley, 21, of Bridgelands Way, Perry Barr, Birmingham, and Keenan Anderson, 25, of Albert Road, Handsworth, Birmingham. All deny murder.
Another alleged killer, Dante Mullings, was shot dead the following year. Details of his mobile phone data was also shown to the jury by Mr Griffiths.
Land Rover worker Mr Sergeant was killed by one bullet as he stood outside his mother's home, another went through the kitchen window.
The jury was told the cars then followed another male and a shot was fired at him outside a Tesco store before they left for Ladywood.
Mr Sergeant was a 33-year-old known as ‘The King of Lee Bank’ and was both a rapper and player manager of a community football team.
The public gallery was again full of relatives of both the victim and the defendants.
The trial continues.
