A MAN was murdered when a vehicle deliberately drove into him and his friend, throwing them to the ground, Bradford Crown Court heard.

It is alleged that the silver Kia Sedona that struck Amriz Iqbal in Sandford Road, Bradford Moor, was driven by Mohammed Nisar Khan, known as Meggy, with Tony Grant in the passenger seat.

Khan, 41, of Holme Lane, Tong, Bradford, and Grant, 39, of Queens Road, Bradford, deny murdering Mr Iqbal shortly after 1pm on October 3 last year and attempting to murder Adnan Ahmed.

They also deny conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, along with Salman Ismail, 31, of Hollin Road, Shipley, Bradford, and Nadeem Khan, 35, of Gledhow Wood Road, Roundhay, Leeds.

Prosecutor Peter Moulson QC said today it was the Crown’s case that Mohammed Nisar Khan swerved the Kia Sedona into the two pedestrians, with Grant, a long-time associate, in the front seat and others, as yet unidentified, also in the vehicle.

Mr Moulson told the jury they would hear evidence from eye-witnesses, watch CCTV footage and be told about phone mast analysis and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras that allegedly helped to place Mohammed Nisar Khan and Tony Grant in the area of the collision at the time.

The jury was shown CCTV footage from an address in Sandford Road of a silver Kia Sedona driving up and down across the entrance to the street before hitting Mr Iqbal and Mr Ahmed.

Mr Moulson said that Mr Iqbal, known as Major, was killed in the collision. Mr Ahmed was thrown clear and was largely uninjured.

The court heard it was “a deliberate attack” on the men, with the vehicle swerving into them. Mr Iqbal was thrown to the right and Mr Ahmed to the left.

The packed courtroom heard shouts and a screech of tyres on the CCTV footage as the Kia Sedona drove away a short distance and then reversed back to the scene of the collision.

It was alleged that a number of people got out of the vehicle and approached Mr Iqbal and that one or more of them might have been armed with a bat.

There was then a further loud screech of tyres as the Kia Sedona left the scene.

“It was a deliberate hit and run, or a hit, reverse, men out of car, and then run,” Mr Moulson said.

He said the identity of the people in the Kia Sedona could not be established from the CCTV at the collision scene.

But just over an hour earlier, the court was told, Mohammed Nisar Khan and Grant were seen on CCTV at Whitehall Road petrol station in Birkenshaw, Bradford, with the Kia Sedona.

The jury saw CCTV footage of Grant refuelling the vehicle and Khan in the petrol station kiosk.

Mr Moulson alleged that Khan and Grant were then trying to find Mr Iqbal, who had returned from Dubai two days earlier.

The jury was told that both men made no comment to all questions asked by the police following their arrests. Khan made a short statement saying he wasn’t involved.

A timeline shown in court from from Operation Pitonend, the codename of the police investigation, was said to put Grant in his BMW on Wrose Road in Bradford shortly before 10.30am on the day of the collision.

Grant got back into the BMW after the incident and was seen in convoy with the Kia Sedona, it was alleged.

Just before 1.30pm, both vehicles entered the premises of Woodcock Farm, but only the BMW was seen leaving.

Mr Moulson said the Kia Sedona completely disappeared, never seen again on CCTV or ANPR cameras.

It is alleged that Khan and Grant decided to cover their tracks by recruiting others to remove any association with the Kia Sedona, and by removing the CCTV from Whitehall Road petrol station.

Mr Moulson was set to continue opening the Crown’s Case to the jury at 10am tomorrow.

The trial continues.