Man guilty of murder after hit and run death
A MAN has been found guilty of murdering a stranger in a Boxing Day hit and run outside a massage parlour.
Tony Green reversed his Skoda into Shkelzen Taka moments after they had a verbal altercation in Coton Lane, Erdington, in the early hours of December 26 last year.
He denied doing it deliberately but following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court a jury took just one hour and 12 minutes to convict the 27-year-old of murder.
Judge Melbourne Inman QC told Green, of no fixed address, he would pass a mandatory life sentence.
The defendant had gone to the
Ayurveda Spa Health Spa Sauna and Massage in Coton Lane twice in the early hours of Boxing Day, whilst accompanied by an associate.
Upon leaving on the second occasion he passed Shkelzen Taka and his friend Ramzan Rizwani in the street.
CCTV showed words were exchanged before Green jumped on top of their BMW.
Mr Taka, who had himself gone inside the massage parlour, came out and grabbed a metal bar from the boot of the BMW before chasing Green who sped away in the Skoda.
But the footage captured him stop after a few metres then reverse back at an estimated 18mph and swerve to hit Mr Taka who had retreated to the pavement.
The Skoda knocked over a sign post which collapsed and struck Mr Taka causing a devastating and fatal injury to his head.
Green fled the scene with his friend as did Mr Rizwani, leaving a member of the public to discover Mr Taka’s body. Later that day Green’s Skoda was found on fire. He was arrested two days later.
Green gave a bizarre account that he reversed the Skoda by mistake whilst trying to put it in first gear as well as claiming he did not know he had hit Mr Taka.
But a vehicle expert told the trial it was not possible to put the car in reverse gear by accident and the jury took less than 90 minutes to dismiss the defendant’s version of events.
Detective Inspector Wes Martin, of West Midlands Police’s Homicide Unit, said after the case: “This is a tragic case where a chance encounter has led to the death of a family man and the imprisonment of another for life.
“All too often impetuous acts of violence lead to tragedy as we have seen here.”