THE latest news from our reporter, Dominic Collis, at Manchester Crown Court for the trial of four young men accused of murdering Nelson dad Mohammed Raja Shafiq (50) in Burnley's Thompson Park in March.
The father-of-seven, who is said to have gone to the park to intervene in a fight involving his son, Umar, died in the Royal Blackburn Hospital after being stabbed and beaten.
In the dock accused of murder and violent disorder are Burnley men Mohammed Bilal Bhatti (21), of Holcombe Drive; Mohammed Shahdab Akhtar (19), of Scott Park Road; Omar Khalid (19), of Fairfield Drive; and a 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons. They all deny the allegations made against them.
The trial is expected to last four weeks and we'll have daily updates here ....
THE jury at Manchester Crown Court heard from Mr William Waldron (defending Shadab Akhtar) who described the October incident as "a schoolyard scrap".
He then questioned Umar Sahfiq's version of events regarding the incident on February 15th and said Shadab had tried to pull his father away from Umra and Umra's friend, Ali Altaf, had punched Shadab in the face.
This, the barrister added, became a source of tension between Shadab, Ali Altaf and Umar.
The fight in October, Mr Waldron said, was "something and nothing". He added that between February 15th and March 4th there had been no incidents involving Umra Shafiq and the four defendants.
He said: "You went into the park wanting to fight. You knew Shadab wanted to fight Ali, which had nothing to do with you. Your father then hit Shadab."
Umar described this as "a really big lie". He said he only started
fighting with Shadab after his father had been attacked. The barrister
described Umar's injuries from the fight as "superficial".
The trial continues today.
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