Crossbow 'attack' footage shown to jury

Khuzaimah Douglas, aged 19, and Waseem Ramzan, 36, were both shot and killed with shots from a crossbow after raiders targeted a house in Pensnett Road, Brierley Hill, believed to have been a cannabis den.

Saghawat Ramzan, 46, his son Omar Ramzan, 23, and Sageer Mohammed, 33, are accused of murdering the two men, which they all deny.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court Adrian Keeling QC, prosecuting, presented an extensive file of

CCTV images, together with footage, of the alleged attack which happened in the early hours of February 20 last year.

They showed images of figures retreating from the cannabis farm, next door to Saghawat and

Omar Ramzan’s home, after smashing their way through the front window to escape.

The prosecution says the images also show Omar Ramzan, Waseem Ramzan and later Sageer Mohammed attacking one of the raiders, Khuzaimah Douglas, on the floor of Pensnett Road and Saghawat Ramzan armed with a crossbow.

Saghawat Ramzan is alleged to have been aiming at teenager Khuzaimah Douglas, who was being punched, when he hit and killed his brother Waseem Ramzan.

Mr Keeling said of the second bolt fired at Mr Douglas: “It’s uncertain from the CCTV precisely

when that happened, when he was hit by that (the second bolt).

“What the prosecution says is important is that that attack on Mr Douglas continued despite the earlier fatal injury just a moment before.”

Mr Keeling said although Mr Douglas was able to stagger across the road he was “horribly and fatally injured” getting as far as Wilson Road before he collapsed.

“The police were called and when they came he was still alive,” said Mr Keeling.

“Doctors came very quickly and treated him at the scene but despite their efforts, he died.

“The cause of death was a wound to the right flank caused by a crossbow bolt.

“His injuries reveal the force that that a weapon such as a crossbow can deliver.

“The bolt struck Mr Douglas’s pelvic bone detaching and becoming embedded.

“The wound continued into his abdomen to a depth of 24 centimetres.”

The court heard Waseem Ramzan was lifted into a people carrier by Mohammed Sageer, Omar

Ramzan and their Vietnamese gardener and taken to hospital.

Medics tried to save him but he died of massive blood loss caused by the wound to the abdomen.

“Saghawat Ramzan remained behind as they took him to hospital,” said Mr Keeling.

“He went into the house and sought to delete CCTV from the camera.

“He left in the company of the gardener and (the gardener’s) girlfriend linking him to the cannabis

growing next door.”

Mr Keeling said that when the police spoke to Mohammed Sageer and Saghawat Ramzan neither

defendant made any mention of Mr Douglas or the attack on him. “The defendants were not arrested at that stage,” said Mr Keeling. “It was soon thereafter that the police wanted to speak to them. “The police could not find the defendants - all three stopped using their phones.”

Mr Keeling said the police examined Saghawat Ramzan’s home in his absence.

“A large crossbow was recovered just inside the front door,” said Mr Keeling.

The trial continues.