Father killed by car used 'as a weapon' as he tried to help stranger, jury told
18 June 2024, 17:55
A father was killed instantly after being run over by a car that was used 'as a weapon' while he tried to help a stranger, a jury have been told.
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Chris Marriott, 46, was helping a woman called Nafeesa Jhangur when they were driven over by a Seat Ibiza car driven by Ms Jhangur's brother, Hassan Jhangur, 24, Sheffield Crown Court heard on Tuesday.
Tom Storey KC, prosecuting, told a jury that Jhangur, who denies murder, hit five people when he ploughed into them in College Court, Sheffield, before getting out of the vehicle and attacking another man with a knife, leaving him with serious injuries.
Mr Storey explained the background to the incident was a dispute between the defendant's family and the Khan family following the marriage that morning of Jhangur's sister, Amaani, to Hasan Khan - the man he stabbed a number of times after the car crashed.
The prosecutor told the jury of six men and six women: "You can sensibly conclude precisely what (Jhangur's) intention was at the time he arrived at College Close - namely, to kill Hasan Khan."
Mr Storey described how Mr Marriott was out for a post-Christmas walk with his wife and children when he spotted Nafeesa Jhangur lying in the street and went to help along with Alison Norris, a passing off-duty midwife.
He said Nafessa Jhangur's mother, Ambreen, was also present when Janghur's Seat entered the street "at some speed" and first hit Hasan Khan's father Riasat Khan, who was sent "cartwheeling" over the bonnet.
The prosecutor said: "The Seat Ibiza drove right over Chris Marriott, almost certainly killing him instantly.
"It also drove over Nafeesa Jhangur, who was very seriously injured, and it either drove over or collided with both Ambreen Jhangur and Alison Norris, both of whom were themselves seriously injured."
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Mr Storey went on: "Hassan Jhangur's actions demonstrate that he intended to kill that day. His primary target seems to have been Hasan Khan, but he was clearly prepared to use his car as a weapon, intending to cause at least really serious harm to others."
Mr Storey told the jury that Nafeesa Jhangur ended up lying on the street following a confrontation between her and members of the Khan family on the morning of December 27, 2023, following the wedding of Hasan Khan and Amaani Jhangur.
He said Amaani Jhangur had fallen out with her family about the wedding and they did not attend.
As the Khan family celebrated the wedding at their College Court home, the mother of the bride, Ambreen Jhangur, arrived and dumped a bag of clothes on the drive in bin liners before driving off.
Later, she returned to the address with her daughter, Nafeesa, again throwing items onto the drive.
The prosecutor said that an argument developed between these two women and members of the Khan family which led to Nafeesa falling to the floor.
He said Mr Marriott and his family had just returned from a Christmas break with his in-laws and were out for a walk as one of his children wanted to try out a new skateboard.
Mr Storey said the defendant appears to have been alerted to what was happening in College Court and headed round in his Seat.
He said Riasat Khan was standing in the middle of the road speaking to a 999 operator.
The prosecutor said "he would have been clearly visible to an approaching motorist" but was hit by Jhangur who "drove straight at him", throwing Mr Khan onto the bonnet of the vehicle, his head appearing to strike the windscreen.
"He was then cartwheeled over the roof of the vehicle, as it continued beneath him without apparently braking or deviating from its path," Mr Storey said.
The Seat then collided with the group around Nafeesa Jhangur, he said.
The prosecutor said the vehicle stopped in a garden with its engine running and wheels still turning, with Mr Marriott and Nafeesa Jhangur "wedged completely" beneath.
He explained how the defendant "had left the vehicle pretty much as soon as it came to a halt" just as Hasan Khan was returning from a walk.
The prosecutor said police arrived to find "a scene of chaos with members of both families shouting at each other in the street, and other members of the public trying to assist those who had been struck by the Seat Ibiza".
Mr Marriott's wife, Bryony, looked on from the public gallery as Mr Storey read her statement to the jury.
In that statement, Mrs Marriott said it was one of their children who first saw the woman lying in the road and then her husband went to help.
Mrs Marriott said that, before she took her children away, she saw her husband on his knees saying to the woman: "Hello, hello, can you hear me?"
She said the couple had been married for 16 years.
Jhangur, of Whiteways Road, Sheffield, denies the murder and manslaughter of Mr Marriott but the jury was told he has pleaded guilty to causing Mr Marriott's death by dangerous driving.
He has also admitted causing serious injury to Alison Norris, Ambreen Jhangur, Nafeesa Jhangur and Riasat Khan by dangerous driving.
Jhangur also denies attempting to murder Hasan Khan and wounding him with intent.
The defendant has pleaded not guilty to four charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
