Trial date set for man accused of murder of Hartlepool dad

Eugert Merizaj, aged 30, whose address is listed on court documents as Montague Street, Leicester, is accused of murdering Hemawand Ali Hussein in Hartlepool in September 2019.

He appeared at Teesside Crown Court on Monday, November 15, by videolink to Durham Prison.

Father-of-two Mr Hussein, 30, was found dead with a gunshot wound in a property in Hartlepool’s Charterhouse Street in September 2019.

Merizaj was not asked to enter any plea during Monday’s court hearing but a trial date was fixed for March 28 in 2022.

It is expected to last for ten days.

He is due back at court on December 10 for a plea and case management hearing.

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Pal Watson QC, remanded him in custody in the meantime.

Three men were jailed over Mr Hussein’s death after a trial at Teesside Crown Court earlier this year.

Noza Saffari, 39, of Park Lane, Middlesbrough, was jailed for 15 years after he was convicted of manslaughter and cleared of murder.

Qazim Marku, 25, of Maxwell Road, West Drayton, in London, Dorian Pirija, 33, of Trillo Avenue, Bolton, each got 19 years after they too were found guilty of manslaughter and cleared of murder.

Mr Hussein’s partner, Jennifer Buller, said after the conclusion of the original case that his death had left his family “crushed and devastated beyond measure”.

She said at the time in a statement: “He was a brilliant father and his children saw him as their hero, a brave man who protected them."

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