Car thieves 'stabbed victim in the head with screwdriver'

Three men accused of killing a young father when he caught them trying to steal a car had been on a three-month crime spree at the time of the murder, a jury was told yesterday.

The men stabbed Kevin Jackson through the head with a screwdriver when he chased after them and was heard shouting out, "you better be able to run", the jury at Leeds Crown Court was told on the first day of the trial.

Robert Smith QC, for the prosecution, said Rashad Zaman, 20, Rangzaib Akhtar, 19, and Raees Khan, 20, had been stealing or attempting to steal valuable cars in the Halifax and Bradford areas of West Yorkshire for three months. Some of the crimes involved taking or trying to take keys to cars from houses, apparently caring little whether they would be discovered.

"The reason they had no regard to that risk was that in the event of being confronted they were prepared to use, and did use, serious violence," Mr Smith told the jury.

At about 2.10am on 30 December last year, the three selected a Toyota Rav 4 belonging to Mr Jackson's father-in-law and parked outside Mr Jackson's home in Halifax, the court was told. After a night out with his brother-in-law, Mr Jackson, 31, had fallen asleep on the sofa while his wife, Julie, went to bed.

She was woken by a noise outside and saw a man sitting in the driver's seat of the Rav 4. "She ran downstairs to wake her husband. He pulled on a pair of shoes and ran out," Mr Smith said.

Moments later Mr Jackson, who had two children, was found fatally injured in the road by a passing taxi driver. "No one witnessed the circumstances in which Kevin Jackson was fatally injured," Mr Smith said. Mr Jackson was taken to hospital but died from his injuries on New Year's Day after failing to regain consciousness. The screwdriver had penetrated his brain by several inches.

When police searched Mr Zaman's house after he was arrested in January, they found a pair of boots that had Mr Jackson's blood on them. Analysis of hairs found in the boots indicated they had been worn by Mr Khan, the jury was told.

Mr Zaman, Mr Akhtar and Mr Khan, all from Bradford, deny murdering Mr Jackson but admit trying to steal the car.

All three men deny assaulting a man with intent to steal his Toyota Landcruiser from outside a house in Halifax on 6 December. On that occasion, the court was told, the householder, Jude Holsten, was alerted when his car alarm went off and looked out of his window to see three Asian men run from his car to a Nissan car.

He tried to stop them but the driver of the Nissan aimed the car at him before driving off. Mr Smith said: "As [Mr Holsten] got back to his house he saw three men come towards him. He was hit on the back of his head with a metal wrench, causing him to fall. He was struck again on his upper arm and they demanded his car keys."

The robbers were frightened off when somebody shouted that police had been called.

Mr Zaman and Mr Khan also deny trying to burgle a house in Keighley, West Yorkshire, on 26 December, with intent to steal car keys. Mr Akhtar has since admitted this. Mr Zaman denies five other charges of stealing cars, while Mr Akhtar denies a further charge of stealing a car and admits another. Mr Akhtar and Mr Khan deny robbing a man of his Lexus car on 25 January.

The trial continues today.