Murder accused's Adidas trainers '˜match stamp injury pattern on pensioner's face'

A stamp mark on the face of an 81-year-old man matches the trainers worn by one of the men accused of killing him.
Mushin AhmedMushin Ahmed
Mushin Ahmed

Sheffield Crown Court heard expert evidence that the pattern of the injury left on the face of Rotherham pensioner Mushin Ahmed was consistent with him being stamped on by a pair of Adidas PT70 trainers.

Mr Ahmed died in hospital in August last year 11 days after being subjected to a sustained attack as he walked to early-morning prayers at his local mosque.

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The court has previously heard that Dale Jones, who is accused of murdering Mr Ahmed with Damien Hunt, had been seen on CCTV wearing a pair of the trainers around the time of the killing.

The shoes have never been recovered but police found another pair of Adidas PT70s in a different colour at Jones’ home.

Forensic identification expert Ryan Harris told a jury that he had examined a pair of the trainers and the injuries of Mr Ahmed’s face.

He said: “The marks are consistent with what would be expected if that particular type of shoe had been in forcible contact with the deceased.”

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Mr Harris said he also examined a pair of Nike Air trainers worn by Mr Hunt but said none of Mr Ahmed’s injuries were consistent with those shoes.

Under cross-examination, he accepted that two other footwear manufacturers, Primark and Mustang, also have a similar tread pattern to the Adidas trainers and it was ‘possible’ the injuries could have been caused by someone wearing the other types of shoe.

The court also heard from forensic scientist Valerie Tomlinson, who said Hunt’s DNA had been found on Mr Ahmed’s broken dentures, which were recovered from the scene of the attack.

She said: “One explanation for this finding is Mr Hunt punched Mr Ahmed to the mouth, transferring DNA from his fist to the teeth.

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“I understand there was an injury to his fist which would accord with this explanation.”

She said spots of Mr Ahmed’s blood had also been found on Hunt’s trainers.

Miss Tomlinson said: “In my opinion, the presence of these very small spots of blood would place the wearer very close to Mr Ahmed when he was injured and bleeding and also at the time when he was on the ground.”

Jones, 30, of East Bawtry Road, Rotherham, and Hunt, 30, of Doncaster Road, East Dene, both deny murder.

The trial continues.