JURORS in a murder trial have been told there is no direct link between the defendant and the sawn-off shotgun used to blast a man to death.
Hemawand Ali Hussein was shot dead moments after being lured into a house by a suspected drugs gang looking to set up a cannabis farm.
The 40-year-old father-of-two suffered the fatal shotgun wound the moment he entered the house on Chapterhouse Street, Hartlepool, in September 2019.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Eugert Merizaj is accused of helping to organise the killing of Mr Hussein by persuading him to a visit the house to look at a potential drug cannabis farm site.
Jurors had heard how members of the ‘killing team’ had spent days planning the alleged murder as detectives were able to trace their movements between London, Bolton, and Sheffield.
Merizaj declined to give evidence in his defence during the trial and his barrister, Timothy Raggott QC, told the court that his client was entitled to do so.
In his closing speech, the QC added: “Somebody, not this defendant, put a sawn-off shotgun to the deceased’s head, from the side or back, and shot him dead – almost quite literally blowing his brains out.
“It was a single act, a brutal act and that was it. You may think he was caught unawares when he was shot, the hapless Mr Hussein, and knew nothing about it because it was over in a flash. It happened within moments of Mr Hussein entering the house.”
Mr Raggott told the jurors that there was no direct evidence to show that his client was aware of any plot to murder Mr Hemawand and was not in the house when the fatal shot was fired.
He added: “This defendant didn’t have the slightest idea that anyone had a gun.”
Earlier in the trial, the prosecution barrister told the jury that three other men had already been found guilty of manslaughter at an earlier trial but reminded members to make a decision on only the evidence they hear during the trial.
Noza Saffari, 39, of Park Lane, Middlesbrough, was jailed for 15 years after he was convicted of manslaughter and cleared of murder.
Qazim Marku, 25, of Maxwell Road, West Drayton, in London, Dorian Pirija, 33, of Trillo Avenue, Bolton, each got 19 years after they were also found guilty of manslaughter and cleared of murder.
A fourth man, Anxelo Xhaferi, was cleared of both charges.
Mr Raggott reminded the jury that his client was caught on camera buying an axe, rope, and cable ties, from a Middlesbrough B&Q store in the lead up to the murder while he was with Mr Xhaferi and he was cleared of any involvement in the killing.
Merizaj, of Montague Street, Leicester, denies murder.
The trial continues.
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