Murder accused had 'no motive' for wishing to harm his alleged victim, court told

In his closing speech on behalf of Mohammed Nisar Khan, Simon Csoka QC said the police had drawn “a complete blank” on whether his client even knew Amriz Iqbal, or that there was any bad blood between them.

AS IT HAPPENED: Our live updates from Bradford Crown Court on Day 14 of the Bradford Moor murder trial

Mr Csoka said the prosecution had to prove that Khan was driving the Kia Sedona when it struck Mr Iqbal and his friend, Adnan Ahmed, as they crossed Sandford Road in Bradford Moor.

“If they don’t succeed in proving that, it doesn’t matter what the intention of the driver was because he wasn’t the driver,” he said.

Khan, 41, of Holme Lane, Tong, Bradford, and Tony Grant, 39, of Queens Road, Bradford, deny murdering Mr Iqbal. Khan pleads not guilty to attempting to murder Mr Ahmed.

Mr Iqbal, 40, a father of three, of Curzon Road, Bradford Moor, suffered a fatal head injury when he was struck by a Kia Sedona shortly after 1pm on October 3. Mr Ahmed, 32, sustained a dislocated shoulder.

Khan and Grant also deny conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, along with Salman Ismail, 31, of Hollin Road, Shipley, Bradford.

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Comparing the prosecution case to a jigsaw, Mr Csoka said: “If it was a mission to find Mr Iqbal and cause serious injury to him, then the final piece that you would expect is the motive.”

But a big police investigation with a lot of resources had not come up with one.

“They must have been looking for someone who could say ‘why’,” Mr Csoka told the jury.

He said the Crown’s case was not that “some unpredictable psychopath” ran the men over but that it was planned.

But why would Khan use a vehicle that would lead straight back to him and ignore all the CCTV and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras in Bradford?

He could have used another car or a vehicle with false plates on it.

“Then he went to buy water and chocolate and got himself recorded at a petrol station for good measure,” Mr Csoka said.

And the Kia Sedona had driven to Sandford Road via Khan’s home.

“Why on earth do you take some sort of bizarre route that takes you back to your home address?

“It went via that route so that Mr Khan could get out,” Mr Csoka stated.

“Rather than take the A roads, the CCTV shows the Kia going past Mr Khan’s home address at about 20 past 12, that is about 50 minutes before the incident on Sandford Road.”

He told the jury: “Why should you exclude the most likely inference, that he was dropped off there?”

Mr Csoka continued: “It’s a big leap of faith, a bit of a guess, a bit of a hunch that he’s still the driver at Sandford Road.

"Because there isn't a camera that shows he was the driver. Not one."

Khan had consistently said he was dropped off from the Kia before the fatal collision. He maintained that account during 54 hours of visits and 200 phone calls when he was covertly recorded in prison.

“Not once is there an admission. Not once,” Mr Csoka said.

He told the jury Khan believed he was speaking privately in prison to people he trusted.

“This is private. It couldn’t be a more reliable account.

“They (the police) were hoping he would say he was the driver but it never happened in over 50 hours, because he wasn’t the driver,” Mr Csoka told the jury.

He said the police had suspected a number of people of being the driver of the Kia Sedona and they were put on identity parades.

During the covert prison recordings, Khan is heard complaining about why the police did not do a VIPA procedure with him.

He states that he wanted to go on one but it had not happened.

Mr Csoka’s closing speech continues on Thursday morning.