Explosion in Leicester sees police declare major incident

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Re: Explosion in Leicester sees police declare major incident

Postby dutchman » Thu Oct 18, 2018 10:30 pm

Coventry man appears in court accused of murder in Leicester explosion

A man from Coventry will face trial after denying the murder of five people in a shop explosion.

Hawkar Hassan, 32, of Foleshill, is charged with five counts of murder or manslaughter and conspiring to commit fraud.

He will stand trial along with co-defendants Aram Kurd, 34, from Hillary Place, Leicester, and Arkan Ali, 37, of Drake Close, Oldham over the deadly explosion in a minimarket in Leicester on Sunday, February 25 reports LeicestershireLive.

All three men today denied both the murder or the manslaughter of the five people killed.

They also pleaded not guilty to conspiring among themselves - with Miss Ijevleva who died in t he blast - to commit fraud by false representation.

It is alleged they intended to make a gain by pursuing an insurance claim in respect of Zabka at 253 Hinckley Road, between December 31 last year and February 26 this year.

The prosecution allege that the cause of the incident was a petrol-fuelled explosion.

The three defendants were all assisted by Kurdish interpreters in the dock at Leicester Crown Court.

High Court Judge Mr Justice Holgate adjourned the hearing for a trial.

Ali, of Drake Close, Oldham, Hassan, formerly of Coventry, and Kurd, of Hillary Place, Braunstone, Leicester, were remanded back into custody.

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If he needed a Kurdish interpreter he can hardly be described as a "Coventry man" :roll:
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Re: Explosion in Leicester sees police declare major incident

Postby dutchman » Fri Dec 28, 2018 6:21 pm

Leicester explosion: Three men guilty of murdering five people

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Three men who blew up a shop in a £300,000 insurance scam have been found guilty of murdering five people.

A mother and her two sons were among those killed in the "bomb-like" blast which destroyed the supermarket in Hinckley Road, Leicester, in February.

Aram Kurd, Hawkar Hassan and Arkan Ali caused the explosion when they set alight "many, many litres of petrol" in the basement of the Polish store.

They had denied five counts of murder and conspiracy to commit fraud.

Mary Ragoobar, 46, and sons Shane Ragoobeer, 18, and Sean, 17, lived above the shop and were at home at the time of the "devastating" explosion on 25 February.

Shane's girlfriend Leah Beth Reek, 18, and shop worker Viktorija Ijevleva, 22, were also killed.

During the trial, jurors heard how Scotty Ragoobeer, who was 15 at the time, survived because he was dug out of the rubble by police and members of the public just before the blast site was engulfed by flames.

Prosecutor David Herbert QC told jurors the defendants deliberately caused the explosion, intending "to profit from loss of stock, contents and future loss of business from the shop."

A five-week trial heard the defendants left Ms Ijevleva to die because she was aware of an insurance policy taken out less than three weeks earlier.

Mr Herbert said the trio "thought she knew too much and decided to leave her to die in the explosion that they created".

Jurors, who took just over 11 hours to find the trio guilty on all counts, were shown CCTV footage of people escaping from a nearby takeaway moments after the explosion.

In the video, released by police after the trial, rubble can be seen flying into the road as cars pass by.

Further footage recovered from a neighbouring business's camera showed Ali in shot three days before the blast - moments before the camera angle was changed.

Images taken from the same CCTV unit a day before the fire showed a gloved hand moving the camera again - at a time when all three defendants were nearby.

Kurd was also recorded on a security camera as he escaped from the scene at the rear of the shop.

Ali, 38, of Drake Close, Oldham, 33-year-old Hassan, of Eld Road, Coventry, and Kurd, 34, of Hillary Place, Leicester, are due to be sentenced on 18 January.

They were also convicted of conspiring with Ms Ijevleva to dishonestly pursue an insurance claim in respect of the fire.

:bbc_news:
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Re: Explosion in Leicester sees police declare major incident

Postby dutchman » Fri Jan 18, 2019 4:48 pm

Leicester explosion: Three men jailed for murdering five people

Three men who murdered five people when they blew up a shop in a £300,000 insurance scam have been jailed for life.

Aram Kurd, Hawkar Hassan and Arkan Ali caused the explosion in Hinckley Road, Leicester, on 25 February, destroying a supermarket and a flat above.

Leicester Crown Court was told they set alight large amounts of petrol in the basement of the Polish store.

A mother and her two sons were among those killed in the "bomb-like" blast.

Kurd and Ali must serve a minimum of 38 years, with Hassan given a term of 33 years.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Holgate told Kurd, Ali and Hassan they were "exceptionally callous and deceitful".

He said: "It is plain from the way they both behaved in court and outside that they are highly manipulative and cunning individuals."

All three men had denied five counts of murder and conspiracy to commit fraud.

:bbc_news:
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