"Hussain tried to escape on foot but was stabbed"
Prosecutors have said that a feud between two families involved a shooting, witness intimidation and vehicle disorder before a taxi boss was killed.
They alleged that a dispute between the “Claughton area and Hussain” groups in Dudley culminated in the fatal shooting of 39-year-old Mohammed Haroon Zeb.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that Mr Zeb was shot outside his home in Queens Cross on January 31, 2021, and died hours later.
Mr Zeb managed Midland Taxis in Brierley Hill.
Eight men have been charged with conspiracy to murder and are currently on trial.
James Curtis QC, prosecuting, explained that the feud has lasted “several years but the cause is unknown”.
He said: “The first eight defendants on the indictment are either family members, friends or associates of the group which lived in the Claughton area of Dudley.
“The other group were members of the Hussain family, who lived in the Himley Road area.”
Mr Curtis said the feud has gone on from March 2018 to July 2021.
Several members from each group have made allegations of criminal behaviour against the other.
One incident saw a man named Nabeel Choudhary “threatened with a shotgun” on Kent Street, Upper Gornal.
Mr Curtis said that he was allegedly run over, forced into a vehicle and taken to a location. Mr Choudhary was then allegedly assaulted with weapons, threatened with a shotgun and dropped back at home.
In an incident at an address in Richmond Road, a person was upstairs when they heard “two large bangs”. They spotted a man running off into a dark coloured vehicle.
Mr Curtis said: “The front living room door and the pane of the window had been shot through with a shotgun.”
Mr Curtis then said that on December 4, 2018, a “murder” of Yassir Hussain took place, committed by Nabeel Choudhary.
He added: “Yassir Hussain was the deceased, Nabeel Choudhary was found guilty.
“This was called Operation Decibel.
“Yassir Hussain was found stabbed during an incident of disorder on Central Drive, Dudley.”
Mr Curtis said a vehicle was rammed before adding:
“Hussain tried to escape on foot but was stabbed multiple times.”
In another incident, believed to have happened on September 24, 2020, there was an allegation of “harming or threatening to harm a witness”.
Two people visited an address in Stafford Street and made threats of violence.
Mr Curtis said: “The suspects attended the victim’s home and said ‘if he attended court, he would get beaten up again’.”
Another incident took place on High Street on January 20, 2021.
Mr Curtis said there was an allegation of “grievous, really serious harm” against one of the defendants.
He said: “The alleged victim is Akeel Choudhary Hussain. It is Akeel Hussain, it is Akeel.”
The defendant and three friends had been in a vehicle when it was “rammed by three vehicles”.
All occupants of the vehicles “decamped”. In a statement provided by Akeel, Mr Curtis said he was run over by a “black Land Rover” and his knee cap was struck by someone wielding an axe.
The eight men charged with conspiracy to murder are:
- Hassan Tasleem, aged 24, of Richmond Road.
- Arkarsh Tasleem, aged 26, of Shaw Road.
- Naheim Rashid Choudhary, aged 47, of Kingswinford Road.
- Akeel Hussain Choudhary, aged 21, of Brook Street.
- Gurdeep Sandhu, aged 23, of Blowers Green Road.
- Mohammed Rafiq, aged 20, of Gammag Street.
- Umar Ali, aged 20, of Blowers Green Road.
- Shamraz Ali, aged 20, of Tanfield Road.
Hassan Tasleem, Naheim Rashid Choudhary, Gurdeep Sandhu, and Umar Ali have also been charged with possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Sanna Iqbal, aged 27, of Hordern Road, Wolverhampton, has been charged with assisting an offender.
All deny the allegations.
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