A man charged with conspiring to commit murder bought three hammers and three axes from a store in Keighley, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Amhad Ali Azam, 21, of Surrey Street, Keighley, was caught on closed-circuit television cameras buying the implements at the town's B&Q store, prosecution counsel Jennifer Kershaw told the court.

Azam said he was buying them on behalf of a friend, fellow defendant Mohammed Iqbal, even though he had no idea why and had not been given any money to buy them.

Jennifer Kershaw told the court that at least one of the tools bought by Azam was used in the murder of security guard Qadir Ahmed, 24, in February, 2002.

But Azam insisted he was buying them as a favour for Iqbal who did not have time to buy them himself.

Azam, who said he was flitting between homes in Bacup in Lancashire and Keighley at the time of the killing, insisted he did not know about the killing of Mr Ahmed until he heard about it on the television news some days later.

But Mrs Kershaw said there was a succession of telephone calls made to and from Azam's mobile phone before the killing, then a quiet period of about an hour, and then another succession of calls.

"Eleven calls in an hour, then it goes quiet," she said. "Was it because you and your friends were doing something else, like killing Qadir Ahmed?"

"No," replied Azam, who insisted he could remember little or nothing about most of the telephone calls he was alleged to have made or received during that time.

Mrs Kershaw said Azam had changed his story about returning to Bacup on the night of Mr Ahmed's murder when he realised his car had been spotted on closed circuit television in Keighley.

Azam said it was merely a mistake because he had been 'doped up' on cannabis and ecstasy at the time.

Azam is one of seven men charged with conspiracy to murder Mr Ahmed.

The others are Zulfiqar Asif, 23, of Bradford Road, Keighley; Mohammed Iqbal, 24, of Salt Street, Manningham, Bradford; Parveez Ashraf, 26, of Victoria Park View, Keighley; Zahid Bashir, 27, of Emily Street, Keighley; Mohammed Rafiq, 21, of Chatsworth Street, Keighley; and Atif Younis, 22, of Buxton Street, Keighley.

The trial continues.