Murder trial: ‘Man’s shock at scream’
A DOOR supervisor says he still feels shocked by the scream he heard the night a man was stabbed to death in Cardiff city centre, a court heard yesterday.
Nicholas Burchett, who was working on St Mary Street, described seeing two Asian men punching and kicking a black man to the head while he was lying on the ground.
Giving evidence from the witness box at Newport Crown Court, he said the scream was “horrible”.
The court heard Asim Khan, 21, from Grangetown, was stabbed in the city centre in the early hours of July 21 last year.
He was treated by paramedics at the scene but died from his injuries at Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales.
Momodoulamin Saine, 28, from Bishopston Road in Ely, denies murdering him and is on trial.
Asim Khan’s brother Hamza Khan, 24, from Corporation Road in Grangetown, denies attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm with intent on Saine.
Mr Burchett said he was working at
McDonald’s when a group of Asian men came in between 4am and 5am.
He told the court they were “laughing and joking” and there were no problems as they took their food outside.
The doorman described seeing a black man come between two of the Asian men and said: “Almost immediately, I could sense there was an atmosphere.”
He said the two Asian men “puffed up their chests”, adding: “I could sense something was going to happen.”
Mr Burchett told the court the two men followed the other man, then he saw them punching and kicking him while he was on the floor.
He described “flurries” of punches and said the kicks made contact with his head.
The witness said he saw the black men get up and run across the street, then the two Asian men followed him, before punching and kicking him again.
He said he heard a man shout: “I’ve been f ****** stabbed.”
He confirmed he did not see the stabbing.
Another door supervisor Ryan Cains described the kicks as “very forceful” and said the two men “were not holding back”. The trial continues.