A murder victim’s disability received fleeting mentions in court when it emerged Zahwa Mukhtar’s hearing aid was found by police, where she died outside a Romford care home.

Giving evidence from behind a screen, witness Abigail Winter said the 27-year-old was “acting crazy”, “screaming”, and “shouting” along the road when she encountered her in Hackney.

During cross-examination, defence barrister, Michael Borrelli KC, asked if Abigail appreciated Zahwa had “serious hearing problems”.

“No,” she stated. “I just thought she was very loud.”

Zahwa Mukhtar trial: ‘it happened so quickly’

At age three, Zahwa contracted meningitis, which left her deaf in one ear.

A hearing aid, recovered from her ear, was one of several of Zahwa’s items retrieved from outside Chadwell House care home where she died in the early hours of Saturday 16 August. Her shoes, an earring, a fake eyelash and a brown and leopard print crossbody handbag were also recovered.

The aspiring accountant fell backwards from standing after a punch to the neck by the defendant — Duane Owusu, of Althorne Way, Dagenham — who denies murder and manslaughter. She suffered a fractured skull and fatal brain injury.

After watching distressing footage of the incident, tearfully Abigail said: “It happened so quickly. It was a blur. When he pushed me away, I didn’t see him hit her.”

Everyone was “screaming and shouting” to return to Zahwa, but Owusu said no, Abigail told the court.

Nonetheless, the driver drove back towards Zahwa on two occasions — the second U-turn is what led to the car being stopped by police nearby on suspicion of drugs.

The police stop had finished by about 5.20am and Zahwa was eventually found unresponsive by an officer at 5.31am after being alerted to her laying motionless on the ground by two separate passersby.

Evidence continues

When asked by prosecutor, Henrietta Paget KC, why she didn’t tell police about Zahwa, Abigail replied: “In my head, at first, I thought she was just going to get up and walk down while we were there, but I didn’t want to stand in front of them and say what had happened because I didn’t want them to think I was crossing everyone.”

“You didn’t want anyone to think you were a grass?” Judge Richard Marks KC interjected. Abigail agreed.

Footage from a Ring video doorbell footage captured Abigail and Paige talking while walking away. In it Abigail can be heard saying, “See, someone like that, she’ll fuck you and cry rape,” referring to Zahwa.

Mr Borrelli, defending, questioned what she meant. “That she was acting crazy and when I said about her being in the car and she kept saying she didn’t say what she said. She was crazy. She was acting mad.”

“Would you have made a comment like that about somebody you knew had been seriously hurt?” Mr Borrelli enquired.

“No, definitely not,” she answered.

When she later learned Zahwa had died, Abigail remembered her and Paige “crying for hours”.

“We were being sick. We were just really stressing.”

Events that night

Zahwa had travelled in a silver Mercedes with Abigail, Owusu, 36, and others, towards Dagenham after encountering the group for the first time in Hackney.

She had “just appeared in the group”, Abigail said, and later began getting involved in arguments between Owusu, known as “Nasty”, and the other men. Abigail didn’t believe the arguments were “serious” but told Zahwa to stay out of them.

She told jurors that Zahwa was “making a rubbing motion” and threatening to stab (“nank”) people in the car.

She added: “Her hands were down. It looked like she was sharpening something.”

There has been no evidence to suggest Zahwa was in possession of a weapon.

It was agreed everyone, including Zahwa and the defendant, had taken nitrous oxide using balloons. At the house rave Abigail and the others had been at, she had taken up to two pills and several “small bumps” of cocaine.

The plan was to go home after being in and around Stoke Newington Road, but Zahwa remained with them.

“She was alright at first,” Abigail explained, but then she began arguing with Paige. “I’m not sure what it started over, but I remember them shouting at each other.”

“[Zahwa] went for Paige in the car and they had a little scuffle in the back. She grabbed her hair and started pulling it.”

The car pulled over, but Abigail was unsuccessful stopping the altercation. However, Zahwa apologised and was initially calm for a short time before “going mad”, Abigail alleged.

“She was biting her nails and spitting them at us and kept saying, ‘White bitches’, ‘White trash’.”

Her nails were aimed towards the floor of the car at Abigail’s legs, she clarified.

“The next thing I remember is she went to take a video of us.”

Video evidence given

The seconds-long clip, a short pan of the car filmed from the back of the Mercedes at 4.33am, had previously been shown at The Old Bailey. On Tuesday, the prosecution drew attention to an “annoyed female voice that says, ‘Ah, please stop it’,” before the video cuts off.

The video was recovered from Zahwa’s iPhone alongside photos of her leaving home at 7pm on Friday 15 August, another in Palatine Road shortly after 11pm and inside the pub shortly after midnight on Saturday 16 August.

Abigail continued: “Nasty said pull over the car and get her out because she was causing too much trouble in the car. I think he just said, ‘Pull over’.”

“In what tone?” Ms Paget quizzed, but Abigail couldn’t remember.

She said: “He tried to tell her to get out the car, she wouldn’t get out. He threw her phone on the grass and said, ‘Go and get your phone’. Then he was trying to push her and she was hanging on to him.”

Zahwa Mukhtar trial continues

She added: “I just remember him getting out the car and I got out and ran round. [Zahwa] was out of the car and [Owusu] was out of the car. I ran round and he was shouting.

“I didn’t want him to do anything or her to do anything, so I grabbed him to say ‘Stop! What are you doing?’ and he pushed me away. The next thing I see, she’s on the floor.”

The defence claimed that Owusu tried to get out of the car and stand up, so Zahwa, who had been sitting on his lap, “tips out backwards”.

Mr Borrelli added: “He continued to get out of the car and then stumbles and trips over her.”

The trial continues.

Featured image via the Canary

By Vicky Gayle

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