A man accused of throwing debris from a collapsed wall at another man in a feud between two families has denied being present during the attack.

Bilaal Zeb, 25, told Bradford Crown Court yesterday that he believed Israr Zahir had torched his car on the morning of February 11 last year, as part of an ongoing campaign of persecution.

Zeb, and his brother Naveed Zeb, 33, both of Woodview Terrace, Manningham, Bradford, are accused of wounding Mr Zahir with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm later that evening.

Naveed Zeb is also charged with dangerous driving in a pick-up truck and damaging a garden wall and two cars.

Bilaal Zeb told the court he was driving the truck when it crashed into the wall, and his brother Naveed was not in the vehicle.

He said that he (Bilaal) was not present when Mr Zahir, known as “Izzy”, was later assaulted.

He said in the evening, while he and another brother were moving the torched Audi, Mr Zahir drove towards his truck at speed, with another man in the passenger seat, causing the defendant to believe they had come to attack him.

Bilaal Zeb accepted he then went to nearby Oak Villas to find Mr Zahir, saying he did this to “make sure he didn’t flee from the coppers”.

When he got there, Zeb told the court, Mr Zahir had attacked the truck with a baseball bat.

The jury had been told the truck hit a wall that Mr Zahir was climbing.

However, Zeb said yesterday that he had not seen the victim, and that he had tried to brake to stop the truck going into the wall.

He said after he hit the wall he went straight home, and did not attack Mr Zahir.

The victim was later treated at Bradford Royal Infirmary for an injured spine, fractured ribs, a mild contusion to a lung, cuts and a chipped tooth.

Of the feud, Zeb said: “I was sick and fed up of the persecution. I was in genuine fear of my family’s safety.”

A letter from Councillor Qasim Khan (Lib Dem, Manningham) was read to the court by Zeb’s barrister Nicholas Askins.

It described him as a “very pleasant and responsible individual”.

The trial continues.