Kevin Pokuta: Fatal shot hit teenager as he drove off after first three bullets missed him, court hears

Kevin Pokuta, aged 19, a father of two, was shot in the head on the night of December 11, 2023, while sitting in the car with his 17-year-old brother.

Sheffield Crown Court heard today how “at least four bullets, possibly five” were fired at the car by an attacker on Page Hall Road.

Andre Horne, firearms and wound ballistics expert, told jurors how it was the fourth, potentially final, shot which caused the fatal injury.

Mr Horne said the first three were all fired from the front side of the car, while the fourth came from behind.

He said: “There was no exit wound. The bullet recovered was intact, with markings consistent with it having struck a metal surface first.

“That would be consistent with the trajectory of the bullet hole from the [rear left] door.”

After watching CCTV footage of the incident, Mr Horne agreed that the fatal shot, which hit the back left side of Kevin’s head, could be timed as the one taken as he drove away.

The first bullet passed through the windscreen and left the rear windscreen, the second hit the headlight and lodged in the car battery, and a third hit the wheel arch and glanced off.

On October 8, Kevin’s brother, Dominik, 17, told the court how he felt the car be put in gear and drive off straight after the first shot, before Kevin seemed to pass out.

He said: “When I saw him down, I was screaming, going crazy, screaming ‘Kevin, Kevin wake up’, but he didn't wake up.”

Forensic examinations found blood on the steering wheel, base of the gear stick, passenger seat, down the back of the seat, and in the rear footwell.

John Newell, senior forensic scientist, agreed Kevin seemed to have fallen towards the passenger seat after sustaining the head injury.

He said: “DNA profiles found in the Skoda Octavia can be explained by Dominik Pokuta’s account that Kevin Pokuta was driving at the time he was shot, and Dominik jumped on top of his brother to drive the vehicle home”.

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Ambulances and police attended their home and Kevin was taken to hospital, where he stayed until life support was withdrawn on December 13.

The prosecution’s case is that five defendants were involved in an intended robbery of a cannabis grow earlier that night, which went wrong when people tried to defend it.

They state the defendants then went looking for “revenge” and mistakenly believed the car containing the two brothers to have been connected.

Jake Brown, aged 23, of Horninglow Road, Firth Park, is alleged by prosecutors to have fired the shots.

Brown, along with Lester Ramsey, 25 and Leon Waite, 26, both of no fixed address, have all pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder, possession of a firearm, two charges 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, pleaded not guilty to one charge of conspiracy to rob.

The trial continues tomorrow (October 10) at Sheffield Crown Court.