Fir Vale murder trial: Desperate friend rushed fatally-stabbed man to Sheffield hospital to try to save life

A Sheffield Crown Court trial heard on January 17 how Mentor Selmani, aged 28, of Matcham Road, London; Marsid Senia, 25, of Burnett Street, Bradford; and Mardov Dushku, 30, of Shirecliffe Lane, Sheffield, have all pleaded not guilty to murdering Armend Xhika.

Samuel Green KC, prosecuting, claimed Mr Xhika died after being fatally-stabbed following a confrontation on Earl Marshal Road, Fir Vale, Sheffield, in the evening of May 13, 2021, when a group including the defendants had met another group with Armend Xhika and three friends who were also allegedly assaulted and stabbed.

Mr Green said: “After Armend Xhika got back to his feet after having collapsed he was helped into his Vauxhall Insignia by his friend Altin Kalemi and first driven to his home address and then to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, where he was pronounced dead at 20:37 hours.”

He added: “Armend Xhika arrived outside the Northern General Hospital at 20:12 hours on May 13, 2021. On initial contact with nursing staff he was found to be in cardiac arrest. They commenced cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, upon him and with paramedics took him into the Emergency Department. After about 10 or 15 minutes resuscitation was ceased and Mr Xhika was formally declared dead in the Emergency Department at 20:37 hours that evening.”

A post mortem examination concluded Mr Xhika had suffered a stab wound on the front, left side of his chest, which was approximately 10cm deep.

Mr Green said the pathologist found the cause of death would have been a combination of severe bleeding, probably with damage to the heart and a collapsed lung and that the deceased had died as a result of stab wounds.

He added the two groups of Albanian males originally arranged to meet on Earl Marshal Road, with one group including the defendants – three of whom allegedly had weapons including knives - and the other group including the deceased and his friends.

Mr Green claimed some of the defendants’ group carried knives and weapons and they posted two members to act as sentries.

He added that the meeting was arranged after Armend Xhika had been driving a Vauxhall Insignia that had been damaged in a road traffic collision with an Audi vehicle occupied by two Albanians earlier on the same day.

During the meeting a member of the defendants’ group punched Armend Xhika and violence followed, according to Mr Green, with much of it captured on CCTV.

Mr Green claimed the defendants’ group chased Armend Xhika’s group and attacked them and he claimed that CCTV footage suggests Armend Xhika was stabbed on several occasions.

He added the prosecution cannot say who administered the fatal stab wound to Mr Xhika but he claimed the defendants and two others in their group – who have not been apprehended – were jointly responsible for the murder.

Mr Green claimed three other members of Mr Xhika’s group were also assaulted and injured during the incident, including Durim Dervishanji, Mikael Kanachi and Fatson Dushku.

Durim Dervishanji went to the Rotherham District General Hospital with a 2.5cm laceration to his right arm and a 10cm laceration and a 6cm laceration to his head, according to Mr Green.

Mr Green said Mikael Kanachi attended the Northern Genral Hospital and was found to have blood in his chest cavity, a lung laceration, a broken rib and two lacerations to the back of his chest consistent with being stabbed.

Fatson Dushku had various stab wounds noticeably to his backside, according to Mr Green.

Following the arrests of the accused, Mentor Selmani and Marsid Senia made no comment, but Senia had previously made a 999 call saying he had been a witness and the incident had happened after a car accident and other people had been there with knives and had fought with each other.

Mardov Dushku told police there had been a meeting to talk about a car accident and he did not know how it erupted into a fight.

He also stated a male had made a move towards him so he punched out but he then fled and he denied carrying a knife and being aware of anyone else carrying a knife.

Mr Green said the prosecution suggests the reality is that these defendants, along with the two others, intended to cause at the very least really serious harm to members of Armend Xhika’s group.

The trial continues