alleged killer ‘prayed’ for victim

An alleged murderer told the court he “highly regret[s] his actions” on the night Zahwa Mukhtar died but had no intention to harm her and didn’t think she was injured.

Duane Owusu delivered a fatal blow to Zahwa’s neck that led to her falling backwards and hitting her head on the ground in Chadwell Heath Lane, Romford.

Moments before, the 27-year-old was allegedly pushed from a parked Mercedes when events continued to escalate inside the car.

Zahwa Mukhtar murder trial continues

Giving evidence at his trial on Thursday, Owusu denied hitting Zahwa with his fist and said he “shoved her” so she didn’t stop him from getting back into the car.

He said: “I had no reason to cause her serious harm. I was basically looking after her the whole night, stopping all the fights, making sure that she was alright. I just wanted her out of the car to deescalate the situation.”

He later added: “I’m not going to punch a woman…Because I wanted her out of the car, I just shoved her out the way. If I had punched her that would have caused some sort of injury. That’s not what my intention was.”

The incident was captured on CCTV outside a care home in the early hours of Saturday 16 August last year. It shows two kicks aimed towards Zahwa’s face while she’s on the ground near the rear passenger side door, where she’d been sitting on the defendant’s lap in the overcrowded car.

Henrietta Paget KC, prosecuting, summarised what Owusu had told jurors earlier.

She said: “I was getting my other leg out of the car. I tried to sweep her leg out of the way to create distance from the car because I felt like I couldn’t close the car door, and I didn’t want the car door to hit her leg, and I didn’t want us driving off and the wheel going over her feet.”

Later addressing what Ms Paget suggested was a “savage attempt to stamp her face”, Owusu said: “100 per cent not” and claimed he only wanted to “push her legs out the way”.

How the night allegedly began for Zahwa

Owusu and his group had come from a house rave and Zahwa was socialising in Stoke Newington Road, north London, when the two parties crossed paths.

When he left the rave, Owusu was “tipsy and lively” but wasn’t drunk. He told the court he’d taken a swig of white rum before going in, a quarter of an ecstasy pill and had smoked cannabis earlier in the day.

“I was happy,” he said and called himself a “people [person]”.

“I just talk to random people if I’m in a good mood,” he explained when shown footage of himself.

The 36-year-old first encountered Zahwa while trying to deescalate a tense situation between one of his group and another man, Owusu told jurors.

He said: “This is when I remember seeing Ms Mukhtar, she’s holding on to my arm saying, ‘Brother, please stop. These guys, they’re going to stab you. These guys are going to stab you’. At that point when she was saying that, I was thinking, why is she saying that? Who is this? I don’t even know her.”

Alleged tension

The court heard evidence earlier in the trial about Zahwa’s interactions with the group and her suddenly jumping into the car.

Owusu said Zahwa had asked the driver if she could “chill” with the group, some of whom were going back to Dagenham to continue the party at one of their homes. He denied having a sexual interest in the victim.

He said: “I didn’t have an issue with her coming so I said to come and sit in the back.”

But once inside the car, Owusu described several fights between Zahwa and two other women, Paige Allen and Abigail Winter, beyond hair pulling, and which he had to break up.

“Little girly stuff,” he said, but blows were allegedly thrown, which escalated at a petrol station. The defendant said Abigail had dragged Zahwa to the ground and both women attacked the victim.

He led Zahwa away because she was angry and had tried to both calm her down and protect her, Owusu said. The two women didn’t want her back in the car, but “I couldn’t just leave her there like that,” Owusu stated.

The situation changed

The court then heard Zahwa’s demeanour changed. “She started being abusive and biting her nails, threatening to stab people,” Ms Paget said.

With Zahwa on his lap, the defendant could see she took out her phone and began scrolling through contacts, which worried him.

He said: “I was thinking, I hope she’s not trying to ring someone and escalate the situation saying she’s been attacked by two girls. I was just thinking the worst at that point.”

Then she began filming the women. Answering what was so bad about Zahwa doing this, Owusu said he believed it could provoke further conflict.

He said: “It felt awkward. It felt weird. You just said you’re going to stab them, you’re going to kill them, and then you’re going to take a video of them. I thought that was a bit weird.”

After he asked the driver to “Please stop the car,” Owusu claimed he “snatched the phone” and threw it out as bait to get Zahwa out. His intention was to book her an Uber, he told the court.

“At what stage did you call her a ‘dumb bitch’?” Ms Paget asked.

“I don’t remember saying that,” the defendant replied.

“I highly regret my actions”

Owusu told jurors Zahwa fell from the car when he loosened her grip from his gilet attempting to get her off his lap. He denied throwing her from the vehicle.

The defendant also said he didn’t see Zahwa on the ground after the incident, but had heard one of the other women saying that she was.

He said: “I highly regret my actions that night. I feel bad that I showed a lack of interest because at that point then, I was still concerned with her getting back in the car. I didn’t want problems to escalate.”

Until he was arrested, Owusu didn’t know Zahwa had died, he told the court. He’d been informed about the heavy police presence outside his home and conversations being had with neighbours, which led him to assume the worst.

He said: “I was just trying to recollect how I pushed her. Starting to think, did she hurt herself? Did something happen after we left her there? I was just praying, I hope it’s not nothing too serious.”

Michael Borrelli KC, defending, explained Owusu’s searched the internet for information that weekend, such as ‘Incident Chadwell Heath girl found unconscious’, to no avail.

He said: “I was just so depressed, I was scared, I was praying. I remember being that stressed on the phone and the emotions I was going through at that moment that I completely slept the whole day until the next day.”

Mr Borrelli asked: “At any point during that incident outside the care home did you deliberately hurt Ms Mukhtar?”

“No,” he said.

Owusu, of Althorne Way, Dagenham, denies murder and manslaughter.

The Old Bailey trial continues.

Featured image via the Canary