Chef lay dead for days after murder, court hears

A care home chef and former councillor lay dead for nearly a week after being stabbed in the neck at his flat in Birmingham, a jury heard.

Sakander Hussain, 25, of Knights Close, Erdington, denies the murder of Wallis Webb, 65, who prosecutors allege was killed in the early hours of 31 January.

Edward Brown KC told jurors at Birmingham Crown Court that Mr Webb "was stabbed, his attacker using a knife, and the stab wounds killed him."

"The most severe knife injuries were to Mr Webb's neck," he added.

Alleging that Mr Webb, who lived alone, was killed between 02:55-03:58 GMT, Mr Brown continued: "In this case we will be looking closely at the evidence covering this short period of time, in those early hours of 31 January and at what happened shortly before and what happened in the following minutes, hours and days."

Mr Webb was found dead in a bedroom at Cranleigh House in Baldmoor Lake Road on 6 February, the court heard.

The discovery came after his brother, who lives in Spain, called West Midlands Police as his Skype calls went unanswered.

The court was told Mr Webb was gay and frequented Birmingham's Gay Village.

He used chat sites on the internet to meet like-minded males and had a regular friend for more than 10 years who he would spend time with, although they were not settled partners and did not live together.

Ten minutes after his long-time friend left the flat on 31 January, Mr Webb was then seen to leave and drive off in his car five minutes later, the jury heard.

CCTV footage recorded a few minutes after this showed his car in the Frederick Road area.

A figure, alleged by prosecutors to be Mr Hussain, was seen being picked up by the car after it flashed its headlights, the jury heard.

It then arrived back at Mr Webb's address at 02:55 GMT.

Data from a smart TV inside the flat showed it was last used at 03:07 GMT while Mr Webb's phone was last "activated" at 03:37 GMT, the court was told.

Mr Brown said: "Fourteen minutes later, at 03.51 by now, Mr Webb's bank card makes a purchase of £128.

"That purchase on his card must have been from inside [the flat].

"At 03.58, a figure can be seen to leave Cranleigh House with what appears to be a backpack and a bag.

"The prosecution case is that that person is this defendant Sakander Hussain."

During the trial, Mr Brown told the jury, it would become clear why the prosecution had identified the time span of 02:55-03:58 GMT during which period he said Mr Webb must have been attacked and killed in his flat.

The trial continues.

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