Teenager in contempt of court during murder trial of Sharma’arke Hasan

Published: 13 May 2010
by TOM FOOT

A WITNESS in a murder trial was escorted from an Old Bailey courtroom on Friday after refusing to give full answers to prosecution questions.

Abdullah Saleh, 19, was held in custody overnight after being found in contempt of court by Judge Martin Stephens QC.

He was giving evidence at the trial of three suspects accused of the murder of his friend Sharma’arke Hassan, who was shot in Camden Town on May 24, 2008.

Mr Saleh admitted punching a 15-year-old boy during an alleged robbery in the car park of the Morrison’s supermarket in Chalk Farm.

The court heard the punched boy then contacted two friends who returned that night and opened fire on a group including Sharma’arke, known locally as Sharkey, in the nearby Gilbey’s Yard estate.

The boy, now aged 17, Didi Parkes, 24, of Willesden Lane, and Chen Shire, 21, of Carroll Close, Kentish Town, all deny murdering Sharma’arke.

The defendants, wearing school-blazer style jackets and v-neck jumpers, sat together in the dock as Mr Saleh answered questions on Friday.

Defence council Brendan Kelly, QC asked: “Will you please tell us why you punched the boy?”

Mr Saleh said: “I had a reason – but I don’t wish to discuss it.”

He later changed his answer to: “I don’t remember – but it’s to do with the crowd you keep.”

Mr Kelly told the court that Mr Saleh had assaulted the youth during a robbery that triggered the revenge attack later that night.

But Shama’arke may not have been the intended target, said prosecutor Crispin Aylett, QC. The gunman, dressed in a black tracksuit, shot Shama’arke in the back of the head as he was answering his phone.

Mr Saleh said: “As soon as he put the phone to his ear I heard two gun shots.”

He died from his injuries in the Royal Free Hospital after his life support machine was switched off four days later.

The court heard how violent clashes between youths had escalated in the build-up to the shooting. 

Shama’arke, the jury was told, had received a three-centimetre stab wound after being confronted by a group of teenagers on Hampstead Heath two months before his death. 

Mr Saleh told the court: “It weren’t nothing major.”

Mr Kelly questioned Mr Saleh on his and Mr Hassan’s role in teenage “gangs” and the Camden Town drugs market.

When asked if Mr Hassan was a drug dealer, Mr Saleh said: “If I say yes you’ll put me in a gangs category. I was not involved in dealing drugs. Kids will be kids – but he was not a drug dealer. 

“Look – in Camden, the police are racist. If they find something near you, in the walls or the canal, they just throw you in a van. They aren’t going to spend money checking anything with DNA. He’s [Sharma’arke] been portrayed as a big drug baron – but that’s not true. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” 

Mr Kelly said that Mr Saleh and Mr Hassan would “hang out” with other Somalis on a “well known bench” in Gilbey’s Yard. He asked him about a Camden Town “gang” called “The Money Squad”.

Mr Saleh said: “To be honest mate, I don’t know what you’re talking about when you say The Money Squad. I’ve heard about it – but that doesn’t mean I’m in it. I’m 100 per cent sure he [Sharma’arke] wasn’t a member.”

On Tuesday, the jury of six men and six women were told that crucial CCTV footage of the defendants’ whereabouts on the night had been lost after a hard drive supplied by Camden Council “failed”.

Detective Inspector Keith Barry said: “It simply stopped working – I have no idea why.”

The hard drive, which was not copied, could not be repaired despite it being sent to “recovery experts” at Glamorgan University, DC Barry said. 

Jurors watched CCTV footage showing Parkes leaving Kentish Town tube station carrying a Nike holdall.

The trial is expected to last for another five weeks.