A recovery truck driver accused of killing his teenage girlfriend crafted a 'false account' about what happened to her because he was trying to 'evade responsibility', a court has heard.
Prosecution Case
Mohammed Azim is accused of using his truck as a weapon to murder 19-year-old Lily Whitehouse on his 41st birthday. He is said to have pinned her up against a lamppost with his vehicle on November 5 last year - just months after she gave birth to a premature baby fathered by another man.
Azim, of Tividale Road, Tipton, denies murder. Prosecutors allege Ms Whitehouse was crushed against the lamppost in Old Park Lane, Oldbury, by Azim's Mercedes Sprinter vehicle, causing fatal chest injuries. She had just been to visit her baby in a neonatal intensive care unit, a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
Azim is alleged to have picked Ms Whitehouse up after she was injured and put her in his truck while dialling 999 and claiming he had seen her hit by another vehicle which did not stop at the scene. Azim - who had been in an on-off relationship with the victim since 2023 - stopped the truck in nearby Park Street and put her on the pavement before the emergency services arrived.
He was arrested on suspicion of murder after paramedics and police found Azim's story about a hit-and-run 'strange'. In his evidence to the court, Azim admitted he lied about the hit-and-run because he panicked. He claimed he hit Ms Whitehouse accidentally as he tried to leave after dropping her off near her home.
Closing Speeches
In her closing speech to the jury on Wednesday, June 17, prosecutor Rachel Brand KC accused Azim of 'acting' when he called 999, spoke to police at the scene and claimed he had no memory of what had happened when he was interviewed by detectives. She said: 'We say it is clear he murdered Lily because in deliberately driving at her, he must, in that moment, have intended to cause her a really serious injury at least. Driving a big heavy truck at someone, you are going to cause them more serious injury than a bruise. That is why the defendant lied and lied about it. He knew full well what he had done.'
Ms Brand told the jury Azim was thinking only of himself after Ms Whitehouse was fatally injured. She said: 'You would think anyone who had been involved in a tragic accident would want to explain that to the police. He said he cared for Lily but on the night she was killed and the following day, he was thinking only of himself. From the moment he put the fatally injured Lily into his truck and drove away, he was thinking first and foremost of himself. He didn't want to be blamed for what happened to her and that's why he lied and said it had been a hit-and-run and someone else had done it. Why would he have told such a wicked lie if Lily had been fatally injured in a tragic accident?'
Concluding her speech on the eighth day of the trial, Ms Brand added: 'We urge you to see through his act, reject his false account that this was an accident and find him guilty of murder.'
Defence Case
In his closing speech, defence barrister Imran Shafi KC said if Azim had intended to seriously injure or kill Ms Whitehouse, he would not have called the emergency services. He said: 'This was obviously a terrible accident. He is frantic on that 999 call. You may think it obvious he didn't want to hurt her from his demeanour on the phone.' He described the defendant as a 'calm and kind man' who tried to help Ms Whitehouse when no one else would.
Addressing the jury, Mr Shafi said: 'It is sad and obvious that Lily was a very lonely young lady. She was desperate for company, desperate for companionship. Mr Azim provided that company when he could. No one else did. The problem was, he could not spend every day or every night with Lily. Lily, on the other hand, wanted to spend all her spare time with Mr Azim. She really had no one else. He tried to do his best by her, but to her, it was never enough. She was incredibly needy and she was incredibly emotional. Given her very sad life experience and her loneliness, it is no surprise she was needy and emotional. Anybody would be with her background.'
Mr Shafi urged the jury to 'strip away emotion' and focus only on the evidence. He said: 'We say that this is clearly not a murder. The real question for you to decide is whether this is a case of manslaughter or a pure accident. We say that when you look at the evidence, you can be sure this was an absolutely awful and tragic accident. Mr Azim asks for no favours from me and no sympathy from you. He simply asks you to decide his fate based on facts. No speculation, not belief, not theory. Cold, hard facts.'
The jury is expected to retire to begin its deliberations after judge Mr Justice Murray sums up the evidence. The trial continues.
