A MAN accused of stabbing a 24-year-old father-of-two to death in broad daylight in Brierley Hill appeared in court today as a retrial of the case got underway.
Niron Parker-Lee, aged 21, of Blewitt Street, Pensnett, is accused of murdering Mansoor Mahmood in an incident which unfolded on a Saturday afternoon on October 15, 2016.
A retrial of the case was ordered after a jury failed to reach a verdict following the original trial which concluded on February 13.
On day one of the retrial, which got underway in front of Judge Philip Parker QC at Birmingham Crown Court today, Home office pathologist Dr Alexander Kolar told jurors how Mr Mahmood died of a single stab wound to the chest - moments after they watched video footage showing the fatally wounded victim staggering into the Dixi Chicken takeaway in Brierley Hill High Street.
Christopher Millington QC, prosecuting, told the court Mr Mahmood, of Brierley Hill, "may well have lost two-and-a-half to three litres of blood at the scene" after suffering a "devastating injury" to his chest and abdomen.
Dr Kolar said Mr Mahmood, who had traces of cannabis, cocaine and morphine in his body at the time of his death, suffered a very large wound - which damaged the blood supply to his kidneys and which would have required "considerable force".
The pathologist said it was not possible to determine the exact length of the weapon used in the attack, which went straight through Mr Mahmood's body - exiting the other side, but Mr Millington told jurors the wound sustained was consistent with having been caused by a "blade of significant length".
Mr Millington said the injury sustained was "not survivable" and Mr Mahmood was pronounced dead at 6.53pm that evening - after unsuccessful emergency surgery at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Parker-Lee denies murdering Mr Mahmood and Courtenay Griffiths QC, defending, asked the pathologist if the force required to inflict the fatal wound would have been less if the blade had been particularly sharp and if the victim had been moving towards the person who stabbed him - and he concurred.
The trial continues.
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