Defendant in Daniel Kirkwood murder hurled abuse while teen bled on floor, court hears - The Coventry Observer

Defendant in Daniel Kirkwood murder hurled abuse while teen bled on floor, court hears

Coventry Editorial 22nd Jan, 2016 Updated: 28th Oct, 2016   0

A DEFENDANT accused of murdering teenager Daniel Kirkwood at a Coventry nightclub drove away shouting abuse at him and his friends, while Daniel was bleeding on the ground, a jury heard.

It was alleged it all began after one of his friends playfully pushed a young woman who Hasham Ali had chatted and given his number to earlier in the evening before.

The fight, which followed, at Coventry’s Society nightclub ended with 18-year-old Daniel and two of his friends being stabbed, Warwick Crown Court heard.

Tobijah Thompson, Hasham Ali, Ramez Murtaza, Ezra Scott and Zaker Khan all pleaded not guilty to murder in March, 2015.




They also denied charges of violent disorder and wounding two of Daniel’s friends, Nigel Mkhwananzi and Niall Kavanagh, with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Thompson, 25, previously of Blakesley Way, Bordesley Green who now has no fixed address; Murtaza, 21, of Bordesley Green East, Bordesley Green; Khan, 25, of Belchers Lane, Small Heath; Scott, 32, of Hawksyard Road, Erdington and Ali, 19, of Amberley Green, Great Barr, also denied assaulting a fourth person – Christopher O’Brien. Thompson also denied a charge of possessing a knife in Coventry, Society nightclub.


Opening the case, prosecutor Michael Burrows QC alleged it was Thompson who was armed with the knife and inflicted the injuries but the others also ‘shared his murderous intent.’

He said the defendants turned up at the nightclub in a silver BMW being driven by Khan at 12.15am.

And in the club Ali spoke to a young woman, who refused to give him her number, so he put his into her phone as ‘H’ before Daniel and his friends arrived at 1.15am.

Two of them knew the girl Ali had been speaking to and as they talked to her Mr O’Brien jokingly pushed her.

Ali saw this and went over to confront him before leaving to fetch support from his friends and returning.

Mr Burrows said, during the clash Thompson fell and when he got to his feet he reached for something from his waist and moments later had something shiny in his hand, Mr Burrows said.

By then the other defendants had gone over and Murtaza was knocked to the floor before getting up holding a bottle.

Mr Mkhwananzi tried to pull Mr O’Brien away but as he turned to leave felt what he thought was a punch to his back.

“There was a moment when Tobijah Thompson was behind him. He didn’t feel any pain at the time, and went outside.

“It was only then he saw blood on his top and began to feel pain and to gasp for breath. By then Daniel Kirkwood had gone outside bleeding profusely from his neck.”

Mr Mkhwananzi was taken to hospital to undergo surgery – he had a collapsed lung, a tear in his diaphragm and his spleen had been cut.

Mr Kavanagh was also attacked in the club and was stabbed in his left arm, suffering ligament and nerve damage, before he too ran outside and collapsed.

Mr O’Brien was held in a headlock and punched by two of the defendants before being kicked and stamped on. A witness identified Khan an attackers.

Witness Jordan Williams said he saw someone matching Murtaza’s description throwing a punch at Daniel so he went over to help and punched Thompson, knocking him to the floor.

Mr Williams added as the bouncer began to drag him out he saw Thompson get up, pull something out and move towards his friends making stabbing motions.

And a few moments after being taken out he saw Daniel come out with his face covered in blood, holding his neck.

“At first he thought he had a nosebleed, but then saw there was blood coming from his neck. He tried to stem the flow and shouted for help,” Mr Burrows told the jury.

Inside the club a bouncer, alerted by screams, saw Daniel on his knees with blood on him and a black man, said to have been Thompson, making a stabbing motion towards his neck with something he then realised was a knife.

As well as being stabbed, Daniel was also hit over the head with a bottle by someone who Mr Burrows suggested was Scott.

Daniel was taken to hospital but went into cardiac arrest during the journey and was pronounced dead at 2.50am.

Meanwhile the defendants left the club and got into the BMW and while driving passed Murtaza shouted abuse at Daniel and his friends, Mr Burrows said as he finished opening the case.

The trial continues.

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