Fifth man in court charged with the murder of Hartlepool dad Hemwand Ali Hussain

Qazim Marku, 24, was brought before Teesside Magistrates’ Court charged with the murder of Hemwand Ali Hussain.

The body of Mr Hussain, 30, who had suffered a gunshot wound, was found in a property in Hartlepool’s Charterhouse Street on September 14 last year.

Marku spoke only to give his name, date of birth and address as Maxwell Road, West Drayton, London.

The scene where the body of Hemwand Ali Hussain was discovered in Charterhouse Street, Hartlepool.

He was remanded in custody to appear before Teesside Crown Court on March 10 at 10am.

The 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 appeared in court with Kurdish, Albanian and Greek interpreters.

They appeared before Teesside Crown Court on Thursday where a trial date was set for October 5 and the three were remanded in custody.

A fourth man Florian Marku has appeared earlier at Teesside Crown Court also charged with the murder but he was not involved or mentioned in that court hearing.

Mr Justice Goss said 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, and we request that we are left to grieve in peace at this extremely difficult time.”