Vehicles and phones linked to Hartlepool shotgun murder suspects 'captured near scene' days before killing trial hears

Four men are on trial at Teesside Crown Court for the murder of Kurdistan-born British citizen Hamawand Ali Hussain, 30, at a derelict house in Charterhouse Street, of Oxford Road, on September 14 in 2019.

Prosecutor Francis FitzGibbon QC said there was “substantial police evidence” that Mr Ali Hussain, who lived in Stockton, was actively involved in drug dealing and the setting up of cannabis farms in the Hartlepool area.

The four defendants who deny his murder are Noza Saffari, 39, of Park Lane, Middlesbrough, who is Iranian of Kurdish origin; and Albanians Anxhelo Xhaferi, 24, of Acton Street, Middlesbrough; Dorian Pirija, 33, of Trillo Avenue, Bolton; and Qazim Marku, 24, of Maxwell Road, West Drayton, London.

It is alleged that on September 12, two days before Mr Hussain’s death, a black Hyundai Santa Fe vehicle registered to Xhaferi was sighted travelling on the A1 in North Yorkshire and into Cleveland.

At around 3pm that day it was caught on CCTV in Shrewsbury Street and turning into Westbourne Road, Hartlepool, just yards from Charterhouse Street.

Cleveland Police intelligence analyst Leanne Hodgson said that afternoon a mobile phone attributed to Xhaferi connected to a mast, or ‘cell site’ in Hartlepool.

A mobile phone associated to defendant Marku, sighted at Wetherby Services at about 1.30pm, was also picked up in Hartlepool that afternoon, said Ms Hodgson.

She said said the phone’s tracked movements later that afternoon mirrored that of the Santa Fe returning to Bolton.

And at around 4pm on September 12, a grey Fiat car linked with Pirija was also seen in the same area of Hartlepool.

The jury was also shown CCTV of Xhaferi and another man, Eugert Merizaj, buying an axe, gaffer tape, cable ties, knife set and gloves at a B&Q in Middlesbrough on September 6.

The grey Fiat was captured on camera entering and leaving the retail park car park.

The same day it is alleged that Pirija travelled in a silver Mercedes from Bolton to Middlesbrough and back again.

The trial continues and the evidence is due to resume on Monday, January 18.

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