Mohammed and Hayder Ali
Two brothers were killed with "startling ferocity" when a turf war between rival Asian gangs erupted into a street battle, the Old Bailey has heard.
Armed with bats, screwdrivers, knives and poles, a mob of almost 30 youths acted like "mad dogs" and ambushed their rivals after spotting them in their "territory" in Tooting.
The second trial into the murders of Mohammed and Hayder Ali has now begun, following the conclusion of the first, which saw six men convicted of both killings. Two men were acquitted.
Four more men now face the same charges. They all deny murder.
The court heard how 24-year-old married father Mohammed Ali, of Tyneham Road, Battersea, was beaten and stabbed by the mob as he tried to flee the ambush of the van he was in, in Fircroft Road, Tooting, at about midnight on Friday, April 21 last year.
His younger brother Hayder, 23, an engaged recruitment consultant who lived in Elborough Street, Southfields, tried to help his stricken sibling but was stabbed four times in the back and collapsed just a few feet away.
In the wake of the killings police found 39 separate weapons at the scene and in the surrounding area, including two knives, four bats, three screwdrivers, a hammer, knuckle dusters, metal poles, scissors, a broken bottle and even a menu board from an Indian restaurant.
Prosecutor Crispin Aylett told the jury: "The two men who died were part of a group of 11 men who were ambushed by a group of as many as 30.
"Their deaths marked the culmination of a fight between two groups of Asian youths which had been simmering for some time and which had erupted in to a number of violent episodes.
"What happened in Fircroft Road was the terrible endgame to that fight."
Mr Aylett continued: "Mohammed Ali got out of the van and got involved in a scuffle. He was stabbed in the stomach.
"He collapsed and fell to the ground, he was then surrounded by a number of the defendants' group and he was punched, kicked and struck with weapons.
"Mohammed's brother Hayder had been running up the road and he did what any brother would do - he went back and tried to help.
"He was surrounded and attacked in much the same way as his brother. He was stabbed four times in the back, stabbed in the leg with a screwdriver and hit with a baseball bat, hammer and metal pole.
"He sustained a number of head injuries including a fractured skull, but it was the stab wounds that proved fatal."
Quadeer Khan, 24, of Garratt Lane, Wandsworth; Bilal Kayani, 21 and Shahzad Kayani, 20, both of Gatton Road, Tooting; and Omar Butt, 32, of Halford Road, Fulham, all deny murder.
Those already convicted are: Imran Ali, 20, of Wilson Avenue, Mitcham; Noor Kayani, 24, from Gatton Road, Tooting; Imran Hussain, 25, of Selkirk Road, Tooting; Aazam Butt, 22, of Arthur House, Halford Road, Fulham; Hassan Mir, 20, of no fixed address, and Usman Butt, 19.
Kashif Khan, 20, of Hebdon Road, Tooting; and Sultan Mir, 24, of no fixed address were acquitted.
The trial continues
These gang's are really getting out of control especially South-West London. The asian gangs are at it everyday fighting over their turf and now have resorted to murder this is one of the worst cases I have ever heard of in London.
Posted: 2007-10-13 23:01:54