West Bromwich murder accused ‘did not notice victim being dragged’
A murder suspect told a jury he was unaware a man was being dragged along by his van as he accelerated up a main road.
Paul Emmerson, aged 38, denies holding Mohammed Miah against the van by the shoulder strap of his bag after the victim had ‘annoyed’ him in an earlier exchange.
Giving evidence at his trial, he said he had beckoned Mr Miah over to his Volkwagen parked in George Street in West Bromwich town centre after watching him staggering dangerously close to traffic in the High Street in the early hours of March 17.
Emmerson, who was with a friend, had been to nearby swingers’ club, Xtasia, and made arrangements to meet three women in the nearby Premier Inn, the trial heard.
He spotted Mr Miah and called him over, concerned for his safety, he told Birmingham Crown Court.
He spoke to the 21-year-old from Tipton but received no coherent reply and the victim backed away.
Minutes later Emmerson said Mr Miah re-appeared putting his head through the window ‘invading my personal space’.
The defendant, a plumbing and heating engineer, said he was ‘having a slanging match’ with Mr Miah before driving away going through a red traffic light at Trinity Way, at which point Mr Miah fell from the van.
Asked by defence counsel Mr Ian Henderson, QC, whether he was aware of Mr Miah holding on to his vehicle, he replied ‘No’.
Emmerson, on a life licence following a conviction in 2008 for arson, dropped off his passenger in Sutton Coldfield before returning home to Birmingham.
Mr Miah died hours later in hospital. Emmerson, of Kemp Road, Kitts Green, Birmingham, denies murder.
The case continues.
