Murder trial jury told Hartlepool man Mohammed Shaan Ali Rasul died 'after being attacked by friend with hatchet'
A man found dead at a flat in Hartlepool had been hit numerous times with an axe or hatchet, a trial has heard.
Mohammed Shaan Ali Rasul, who was 23, died at a flat in Allerton Close, in the Dyke House area, last November.
He was discovered in a bedroom by emergency services at around 11am but could not be saved, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Twenty-three-year-old Callum Howe, who was the registered tenant of the one-bed rented flat at the time, went on trial for murder today (Wednesday).
The jury heard Howe made a prepared statement to police at the time of Mr Rasul’s death in which he accepted responsibility for causing his fatal injuries, but claimed Mr Rasul attacked him and he acted in self defence.
In outlining the prosecution’s case, barrister Peter Makepeace KC said Mr Rasul and another long-time friend of Howe’s were staying in the flat last November.
All three shared a use of drugs, including cannabis, and Howe was said to be a heavy cocaine user.
He said at around 10.30am on November 23 the people in the flat below heard a “commotion” upstairs and what sounded like blows being struck.
Mr Makepeace continued: “Shortly after, Callum Howe was seen to exit the upstairs flat through the window of his bedroom.
“He was caught on various doorbell cameras and CCTV cameras in the area. He was clearly very heavily influenced on drugs.”
Howe was unsteady on his feet, bouncing into properties and cars “like a pinball” and was said to be “out of it”.
Paramedics and police attended and found Mr Rasul unresponsive when they searched the Allerton Close property.
Mr Makepeace said he had suffered “massive facial injuries” caused by an axe or hatchet.
He added: “Paramedics who attended did everything they could, but to no avail.”
The jury was shown CCTV footage of the third flatmate running barefoot away from the Allerton Close area at around 9.45am.
He ran onto a roof at Hartlepool Enterprise Centre nearby.
The trial is expected to last up to two weeks.
Howe, of Blakelock Gardens, Hartlepool, denies murder.
• The trial continues.