Jurors in the murder trial of a Tipton truck driver accused of killing his teenage girlfriend have retired to consider their verdicts.
Prosecution Case
Prosecutors allege Mohammed Azim used his truck as a weapon to murder 19-year-old Lily Whitehouse on his 41st birthday on November 5 last year. The alleged killing is said to have taken place just months after she gave birth to a premature baby fathered by another man.
Ms Whitehouse had just been to visit her baby in a neonatal intensive care unit when she was allegedly crushed against a lamppost by Azim's Mercedes Sprinter vehicle in Old Park Lane, Oldbury. She suffered fatal chest injuries, a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
Defendant's Account
Azim - who had been in an on-off relationship with the victim since 2023 - denies murder. He 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 that did not stop at the scene. The defendant is said to have stopped the truck in nearby Park Street and put her on the pavement before the emergency services arrived.
The court heard Azim was arrested on suspicion of murder after paramedics and police found his 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. The defendant, of Tividale Road, Tipton, claimed he hit Ms Whitehouse accidentally as he tried to leave after dropping her off near her home.
Prosecution Evidence
Prosecutors claim Azim's version of events was an 'act' and that the pair were arguing on the night of Ms Whitehouse's death. CCTV footage from a nearby school, which had audio, captured the sound of Azim's recovery truck idling just out of view of the camera for about 16 minutes before it came into view, and Ms Whitehouse was seen walking quickly along the road on the driver's side.
Prosecutor Rachel Brand KC said: "The defendant is driving the truck as if he was nudging or pushing her along the road. Lily started running, the vehicle is pursuing her at a low speed but, nevertheless, we say he was clearly using that large, heavy vehicle as a weapon." As the truck went out of view, a 'large bang' was heard on the CCTV, Ms Brand said - a moment the prosecution suggests was the truck striking a lamppost. Ms Brand said: "We believe she was crushed against a lamppost, perhaps with the driver's door of the truck open at the time."
A Home Office pathologist found Ms Whitehouse suffered injuries predominantly to her right side while in an upright position, including a broken upper arm, fractured ribs, a laceration to her liver and traumatic injuries to her chest, which caused 'severe bleeding' and led to her death.
Witness Testimony
Giving evidence during the trial, Ms Whitehouse's aunt Melissa Wheeler told the jury her niece had met Azim when she was 16 or 17 after they exchanged numbers in West Bromwich High Street and began a relationship. During questioning by junior prosecution counsel Robert Price, Ms Wheeler agreed that her niece had been 'besotted' with Azim. But she said the pair would fight a lot and the defendant would sometimes block Ms Whitehouse when she tried to speak to him.
Ms Wheeler said she was aware Azim was not the father of Ms Whitehouse's baby and he was 'not happy' that she was pregnant so she would hide her bump with long clothing when she visited or stayed with him. She told the court her niece went into labour 10 weeks early after she fell to ground when Azim 'sped off' in his vehicle. Friend Libby Higgs told the jury that Ms Whitehouse confided in her that Azim would say 'vile' things to her and would punch her, which he claimed was playfighting.
Defendant's Evidence
In his evidence, Azim denied being violent towards Ms Whitehouse and said he was the only person who supported her after she fell out with her family. He told the jury that on the night Ms Whitehouse was fatally injured, he picked her up after she got off a bus from Russells Hall Hospital and was going to drop her home in Amber Drive, Oldbury. Azim said Ms Whitehouse asked him to sit with her for 10 minutes before she went home so he pulled up in Old Park Lane because it was a wider road for his van. The two chatted and scrolled on their phones, he said.
Azim told jurors they had not argued and claimed Ms Whitehouse simply did not want to go home so asked if she could stay with him. The defendant said he told her 'no' as he was tired and had to get up early for work but she tried to stop him by going in front of the van. He told jurors that he started to drive slowly to the left to go around Ms Whitehouse but had to swerve back to the right because of parked cars. In his evidence, Azim told the jury: "I hear a bang at the back. It could have been Lily jumping on the truck. I felt something bump the back. I feel the back tyres, like something come under the tyre or something drop under the tyre. I slammed the brakes and stopped straight away. I looked back and saw Lily on the floor in the middle of the road."
The court heard Azim came to the UK from Pakistan in 2001 around the age of 14. He went to college and worked in takeaways to learn English. Azim was married in 2007 but had been single and living alone since his marriage ended in 2015. The defendant told the jury that Ms Whitehouse relied on him for support and she did not have many friends so would text and call him often while he was working.
Jury Deliberations
The jury of seven men and five women were sent out to begin their deliberations on Thursday (June 18) morning. Judge Mr Justice Murray said they must concentrate on reaching a unanimous verdict. He said: "You should feel under no pressure of time. Take all the time you need to carry on your deliberations and return your verdict."
