Gangland assassin went Armani shopping after telling police 'a pack of lies', jurors told

An alleged gangland assassin told police 'a pack of lies' about the fatal shooting of a rival and then went shopping for Armani clothes, jurors were told.

Abdul Ahsan, 28, is alleged to have fired seven shots at Andre Marshall in a BMW before dumping his body outside a church in Urmston, Trafford, in May 2015.

But jurors heard that after he told police a 'pack of lies' in a formal interview he was captured on CCTV later that day at Armani Exchange in the Trafford Centre where he and two others spent £670 on new clothes. He later 'fled' to Pakistan.

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Mr Ahsan, of no fixed abode, is on trial at Manchester Crown Court where he denies murdering Andre Marshall, who was 29. The court has heard the defendant was extradited back to the UK earlier this year.

Prosecutors allege that Mr Ahsan, then 18, was the gunman who shot Mr Marshall seven times. Mr Marshall was said to have been a member of the Gooch gang, and had previously received a seven year prison sentence for possessing a firearm and assault, the court heard. Mr Ahsan was also said to have been involved in ‘gang related crime’, including acting as a ‘courier’.

As prosecutor Andrew Thomas KC resumed his opening address on the second day of the trial, he told the jury that, after the attack, the defendant 'dumped' the body near St Clement’s Church in Urmston and then 'abandoned' the BMW outside the Lord Nelson pub nearby, before being picked up by a VW Golf 'getaway vehicle' which drove towards Manchester.

Ahsan's iPhone was switched off during the attack but at 1.16am it was turned back on again in Cheetham Hill, some 16 minutes after the Golf had left the scene, Mr Thomas told the jury.

When the defendant was arrested, what he told police then was 'clearly a lie', said Mr Thomas who told the jurors the defendant, nine years later, now admits he was in the BMW but he claims to have jumped out of the moving car before the alleged attack near the church and fled across fields before flagging down another car which took him to Didsbury.

"We say the defendant's story is a lie. Nine years after these events, we say he's gone through the served evidence and carefully woven a story to match the evidence to explain away that showing his involvement in the shooting," said the KC.

The defendant's Lexus car was captured returning to Urmston and the prosecution say it was driven to the scene by another man, Danny Shahid, while a second man, Kadell Rivers, got out and drove the BMW away. Mr Thomas said there was 'no dispute' about the involvement of the two other men.

Mr Rivers was said to have driven the BMW and parked it up at an 'isolated spot' on a cul-de-sac in Fallowfield close to the Fallowfield Loop cycle path, said Mr Thomas.

The evening after the shooting, the defendant and Mr Shahid drove in the Lexus to Leicester, a trip which was 'more like a business trip than a leisure trip', said the prosecutor. The jurors were told the gun which fired the fatal shots was found hidden near a house in Derby 'some years' later.

The defendant voluntarily attended a police interview two days after the killing where he told officers what Mr Thomas described as a 'pack of lies'.

Not long after leaving the station, the defendant was captured on CCTV at the Armani Exchange store in the Trafford Centre with Shahid and Rivers where they spent £670 on new clothes, said the prosecutor. The trio were said to have paid in cash.

The defendant later 'fled the country' and didn't return for nine years, the court heard.

"The prosecution say he was avoiding the police for the murder he had committed," said Mr Thomas.

In a statement, Rachel Xu, who lived near the scene of the shooting, said she found a body when she went to her Hyundai hatchback which she had parked next to the church and called 999 shortly after 7.17am. She said a jacket was covering the face so she could not tell if it was a male or a female.

Another resident, Seanie Lynch, told the jurors told that after returning from working at the Trafford Centre at about 10.30pm he started watching Family Guy and American Dad on TV. He said that when he decided to go to bed at about 12.30am he became aware of a 'commotion outside'.

He said he heard 'a lot of shouting' although he could not distinguish what was being said. He said it sounded like 'at least two men having an argument'.

He said he then heard four bangs, first a loud one and then a quieter one and then another loud bang and finally another quieter one. He said he didn't look out of the window and woke up the next morning to find the area had been taped off by the police.

Another resident, police officer Aaron Cooper, said he was preparing to go to bed at around midnight when he heard a 'screaming noise' outside. He said at first he thought it was a fox and then he heard four or five muffled bangs as if a 'heavy hammer was hitting a metal object'.

Mr Cooper said he then heard voices which sounded like 'kids talking amongst themselves' and when he checked out of his window he couldn't see anyone. Under questioning, he accepted a statement he had given to the police at the time saying he heard nine bangs as if from a 'lump hammer' would have been more accurate.

Another resident, David Hawarth, told the jury he was awoken by a 'loud argument outside' and he heard 'at least two voices'. He then said he heard 'four quick pops or shots'. He said he looked out but could see nothing.

On Monday, the jurors were told that Mr Ahsan is expected to say he was ‘running errands’ for Mr Marshall that evening.

Proceeding