Fifth man appears before crown court judge charged with murder of Hemwand Ali Hussain in Hartlepool

Qazim Marku, 24, was remanded in custody at Teesside Crown Court accused of the murder of Hemwand Ali Hussain, 30, who was found dead with a gunshot wound at a property in Charterhouse Street, Hartlepool, on September 14 last year.

Three other men have already appeared in court charged with murder and they were remanded in custody until their trial later in the year.

Marku, of Maxwell Road, West Drayton, London, has not yet entered a plea and he spoke only to confirm his name.

He was remanded in custody to a plea and trial preparation hearing on Wednesday, March 25.

Judge Paul Preston QC said that the trial was likely to be during the week commencing Monday, October 5.

Three co-accused, two Middlesbrough men, Noza Saffari, 38, of Park Lane, and Anxhelo Xhaferi, 23, of Acton Street, and Dorian Pirija, 32, of Trillo Avenue, Bolton, Greater Manchester, have all denied murdering Mr Hussain.

The men last appeared in court earlier this month with Kurdish, Albanian and Greek interpreters.

A fourth man Florian Marku has also appeared earlier at Teesside Crown Court charged with the murder.

At a previous hearing the court heard the trial had an estimated length of up to eight weeks.

The family of Mr Hussain said in a statement after his death: “We are deeply saddened by the death of our partner and father Hemwand.”