The jury in one of Bradford's biggest criminal trials had to be discharged due to jury tampering, the T&A can reveal.
Mohammed Waqqas Khan, Rahees Khan, Hanzalah Saladin, Adam Takolia, and a fifth man who cannot be named for legal reasons, all deny conspiracy to murder Mohammed Zayad Khan and Mohammed Usama Khan on May 11 last year.
The “prolonged and ferocious” nighttime machete attack resulted in Zayad Khan’s hand being hacked off at the wrist.
Usamah Khan suffered slash wounds to his neck.
On August 7, following almost three weeks of evidence at Bradford Crown Court, His Honour Judge Jonathan Rose discharged the jury while it was deliberating following an allegation of jury tampering.
Judge Jonathan Rose (Image: UGC)
When the trial resumed Judge Rose took the decision to continue without a jury, with him alone deciding on the verdicts.
Reporting restrictions on the case were lifted today.
In his opening on July 22, prosecuting barrister Stephen Wood KC said Zayad and Usamah were together in a VW Tiguan on Tickhill Street, off Leeds Road, when they were attacked by armed men who arrived in convoy in a Mitsubishi Shogun, a BMW X3, and a Vauxhall Antara.
Usamah fled and managed to climb into the back of a friend’s Range Rover, which then drove off.
The police cordon just off Leeds Road (Image: Newsquest)
He had been struck by what appeared to have been a machete, which caused significant wounds to the back of his neck.
Zayad ran in the opposite direction but was caught and attacked.
He suffered fractures of the skull, legs, and elbow plus slash wounds to his scalp, eye socket, and right thigh as well as the amputation of his left hand before being “left for dead” in a pool of blood.
The Shogun was later found abandoned on Chelmsford Road.
The BMW and the Antara were both discovered burned out.
The weapons involved in the attack have never been recovered.
The court heard that the brutal attack on Zayad and Usama was in revenge for their suspected involvement in an assault in March 2025 on a man called Mohammed Rizwan, known as “Rizzy”.
The prosecution said that “Rizzy” was either related to, or friendly with, the five male defendants in the trial.
Both Zayad and Usamah have been charged with offences related to that assault and await trial.
In his closing submissions to the court, Mr Wood said: “The Crown maintains that the object of the conspiracy was to kill Zayad Khan and Usamah Khan. That this objective was not achieved is a matter only of happenstance.”
He added: “The court may easily conclude that the attack was prolonged and ferocious.
“In no small measure [Zayad Khan] is lucky to be alive.
“Had Usamah not managed to get into the rear of the Range Rover and be driven away from the scene he too would have been the victim of a more extensive attack.”
Mr Wood said there was “clear evidence” that there was “a common shared intention to kill” and that the genesis of the Tickhill Street incident was the earlier attack on Mohammed Rizwan.
He went on: “This was a punishment attack and it was done, the court may well agree, to send a message to those who had participated in that attack [on Rizwan].”
Alice Dobson, a former Police Community Support Officer, denies perverting the course of justice (Image: T&A)
Mohammed Waqqas Khan, 27, of Folkestone Street, Bradford, Rahees Khan, 42, of no fixed abode but formerly of Granton Street, Bradford, Hanzalah Saladin, 27, of no fixed abode, Bradford, Adam Takolia, 29, of no fixed abode, Bradford, and a fifth man who cannot be named for legal reasons, deny conspiracy to murder.
In addition, they all deny conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm to both alleged victims.
Rahees Khan and Alice Dobson, 30, a former Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) of Nether Hall Road, Baildon, both deny perverting the course of justice by accessing confidential material related to the attacks, which Dobson allegedly passed on to Rahees Khan and others.
The trial, which has been heard by Judge Rose alone for 31 days, continues.