Kevin Pokuta: 17-year-old screams 'Kevin, wake up' after brother, 19, is shot next to him in car

Kevin and Dominik Pokuta had driven together to a cash machine on Page Hall Road on December 11, 2023, to take out money for Kevin to buy something for his son.

Kevin, aged 19, was in the driver's seat of their dad’s silver Skoda when shots were fired and he appeared to pass out, Sheffield Crown Court heard today (October 8, 2024).

Dominik said: “From nowhere, like a ghost I see in my eye … [someone] fired from a gun, shoot.

“I was very shocked because I had never seen this in my life. My head was going crazy.

He told the court how he felt the car being put into gear and move, but looked up to see that Kevin seemed to have passed out, although he did not see any injuries at that time.

CCTV played in court appeared to show the car moving after the first shot, and several more shots get fired as the car drove away.

Dominik told the court: “He [the shooter] was in black clothes and had on his face a mask. I only saw him for about three seconds because my head went down [after the first shot]. I heard the one shot, and then my ears were blown up… I couldn’t hear anymore.

“When I saw [Kevin] down, I was screaming, going crazy, screaming ‘Kevin, Kevin wake up’, but he didn't wake up.

“The car was going [towards] other cars - he wasn’t moving.”

When James Lake, prosecuting, asked the teenager to explain who drove the vehicle home after that, Dominik said: “I was driving. I sat on him.

“I went to get my dad, my mum, his wife, to come outside, [said] that Kevin was shot, to ring the ambulance. In the shock, I didn’t ring the ambulance. I was very stressed.”

Kevin, a father-of-two, was taken to hospital in the early hours of December 12, 2023, and died the next day after life support was withdrawn.

The prosecution claim that the shooting took place after an attempted robbery went wrong.

Mr John Harrison KC, also prosecuting, said last week (October 4): “The prosecution case is that [the defendants] had been involved in an intended robbery of an illegal cannabis cultivation, which went awry when those growing it tried to defend it.

“These defendants went looking for revenge, and mistakenly believed the silver Skoda was involved.

“It appears that [Mr Pokuta] was shot and killed by mistake.”

Jake Brown, aged 23, of Horninglow Road, Firth Park, along with Lester Ramsey, aged 25, and Leon Waite, aged 26, both of no fixed address, all pleaded not guilty to the seven charges against each of them.

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They are each charged with murder, attempted murder, possession of a firearm, two counts of possession with a firearm with intent to endanger life, attempt to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, and conspiracy to rob.

A 17-year-old boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and conspiracy to rob.

Adam Mulligan, aged 33, formerly of Catcliffe, Rotherham, has pleaded not guilty to one charge of conspiracy to rob.

The trial continues tomorrow (October 9) at Sheffield Crown Court.