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THE Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) case rested very heavily on its star witness, Abdul Ahmed (AA), referred to by police as Witness A. Without his self-contradictory account of what he believes he saw of a fast-moving incident, Jason Moore could not possibly have been charged with murder, let alone found guilty.

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Because there was absolutely no CCTV or forensic evidence to convict him.

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The evidence you are about to read, extracted from AA’s original police interviews that we have obtained in both written and audio form, along with his Old Bailey trial testimony, highlight how confusing and unreliable it was.

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In fact, AA had two versions of events. One in 2005. And another in 2012.

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It was shortly before noon on August 24, 2005 when AA, a then 36-year-old from Somalia and living in east London, found himself lost and wandering along the pavement leading from the Gants Hill roundabout into Perth Road towards The Valentine pub, which was to his right.

 

As fate would have it, he shouldn’t have been near the pub. He could not find the offices of Welcome Finance, where he had a scheduled appointment, and had walked past their entrance.

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He was wearing a hat, trying to shelter from rain. According to his evidence, he continued to walk past the pub before turning around and heading back towards the roundabout. As he did so, he claims he heard a commotion in the street. He continued walking while looking back over his shoulder at events unfolding behind him.

 

His 'view' of the incident

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The following excerpts are taken from police witness statements and trial evidence

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Barristers: David Howker QC (representing Jason Moore); Michael Bromley-Martin QC (representing *****); and Simon Dennison QC (representing CPS).

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KEY: int = police interview transcript; int st = police interview statement; court = trial evidence

 

ARRIVAL OF CARS IN PERTH ROAD IN RELATION TO HIS POSITION

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AA (int st): Noticed a black BMW drive past me and stop in the middle of the road. I turned and saw silver car behind the black one. Silver car also stopped in the middle of the road behind the black one. Before the cars stopped they were travelling at normal speed. I do not know the make and model of the silver car.

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AA (int): When they stopped both of them, yes, I was passing by. I keep walking. I didn’t stop because of my safety. I keep walking past because when they come out here I saw them coming out. They come out, the driver come out, the other one come out and he stopped. How he stopped I don’t know.

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AA (court): I didn't see any traffic come past me as I walked down Perth Road. It was a quiet road but I realised it was one-way . . . I had gone past the pub, turned around and just started to walk back towards Gants Hill station when I first noticed the black BMW pull up . . . noticed nothing unusual but saw it pull up – straight – in the middle of the road . . . then the silver car was following . . . the cars came together . . . they weren't quite bumper-to-bumper, there was a little gap . . . I stood still on the pavement...

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AA (court): I was on the pavement near the pub. I walked from Gants Hill station along Perth Road for about 3-5 minutes, walking at average pace. I walked just past the pub, to the start of the houses, and then turned back . . . didn't notice any other people on either side of the road, or milling around the pub . . . didn't notice any cars in the pub car park.

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AA (court): On cross-examination by Howker, Ahmed accepted that he had kept on walking after the cars had stopped – contrary to his previous court testimony that he had stood still while the incident was in progress. "I did keep on walking but I did not disappear . . . I did walk past the cars but I did not pass the pub . . . I turned round to look at them, I turned my head back to see."

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AA (court): On further cross-examination by Bromley-Martin, Ahmed agreed that he DID continue walking when he saw the black BMW pull up, and that he DID have to turn his head to see the silver car behind him.

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AA (int): When asked by DC Lewin: "I take it that when this was happening, were you still walking or had you stopped?", AA replied: "I was still walking, yeah, and I’m looking back as well. So I had to turn my head to see the silver car."

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AA (court) says there is "no chance" the black BMW reversed down the road, the wrong way, towards the silver car.

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AA (court) described the silver car as "small", comparing it to a "Ford Fiesta".

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AA (court) confirmed that there were cars parked on his side of Perth Road. But he did NOT notice that one of them was the silver vehicle which ***** and Moore to the scene.

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***** drove a silver-grey BMW 6 Series Convertible with black roof, which is incomparable to a smaller car such as a Ford Fiesta. The evidence states that Ahmed saw the silver Renault Modus being driven by Witness B Sally Palmer – very much a “small silver car” – momentarily stop, or slow to a virtual halt, behind Darby’s black BMW . . . and Ahmed WRONGLY ASSUMED ***** and Paul Hunt got out of HER vehicle.

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He saw Robert Darby and a third man of about 5ft 6ins who very much fits the description of Hunt – NOT Jason Moore.

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HEIGHT ISSUES – No witnesses described seeing ‘gentle giant’ Jason Moore

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As the chaotic scene unfolded and three men appeared on the street, he didn’t notice Sally’s car move slowly past Darby’s. He didn’t see her Modus again, or notice it was “the lady’s car”, until it had parked just beyond the pub.

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We believe he also made the mistake of confusing Moore with Hunt. This is absolutely crucial. We suggest that Hunt DID get out of Darby’s car just before his friend was stabbed – probably to try and act as peacemaker as Darby and ***** came together. Moore was the last of the four to emerge from either vehicle and only did so AFTER the stabbing had taken place.

 

POSITION OF ROB DARBY'S STATIONARY BLACK BMW

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AA (court): In the middle of the road on my way back to Perth Road they (both cars) stopped in the middle of the road . . . both pointing towards Gants Hill station . . . in front of me. I could see them clear, it was daylight.

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WHICH SIDE OF DARBY’S CAR DID ROBERT GET OUT FROM?

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AA (court): The driving side (farthest side from where AA was standing).

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POSITION OF SILVER CAR

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AA (court): Stopped behind the black BMW . . . pointing towards Gants Hill roundabout.

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AA (court): Under further questioning from Dennison, AA admits he didn't know if the silver car had followed the black BMW, as he'd earlier presumed, or if it was already "stopped" (parked). He said: "I saw it stopped."

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AA didn’t see *****'s silver-grey BMW parked kerbside or at any stage of proceedings.

 

POSITION AND ACTIONS OF PEOPLE DURING ALTERCATION

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AA (court) agrees that the driver of the black BMW (RD) was out of the car first. Next on the street was the driver of the silver car but he says he did NOT have a knife (this supports our theory that he thought Hunt, not Moore, was driving the small silver car).

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AA (court): Then the silver car, the driver came out and the black BMW the driver come out and they confront a man who was driving the black BMW.  So the silver car, the passenger come out, it is the passenger who had the knife (unprompted by the prosecution, he states the passenger had the knife)... because passenger was on my side, I could view him clearly. Questioned by Bromley-Martin, he accepted that he "kept my eyes on him (the passenger in the silver car)" while the two drivers were confronting each other.

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AA (court) he did NOT see RD hit ***** on the head. "I didn't see that, not at all."

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AA (court) asked by Bromley-Martin to confirm that he didn't see the driver of the silver car hit, strike, punch or stab, AA replied: "No, I didn't say that. He struck but they confront each other."

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AA (court): Dennison seemed to be putting words in AA's mouth in the following exchange:

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Q. I just want to understand what you saw happen between those two men when they came together. Can you tell us what they did?

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A. They were confronting each other but it was not --

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Q. Confronting each other.

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A. Shouting at each other.

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Q. Shouting at each other.

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A. Yes, yes.

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Q. Any physical contact that you saw?

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A. No. And . . .

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Q. Did you want to add something? I don’t want to stop you if you did.

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A.  Then the passenger who had the knife came out straight away and stabbed the man; that’s what I saw. The stabber is the passenger.

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Q. When the two men were confronting each other, those two drivers, from what you’ve said to be able to say what they saw, were you looking at them and watching what was happening?

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A.  I was concentrating on the passenger who had the knife. I was concentrating on the man with the knife.

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Q. I just want to be clear if we can. It’s been suggested to you that there was physical contact between the drivers and that, indeed, the driver of the black BMW hit the driver of the silver car.

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A. I don’t know that.

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Q. You said you didn’t see that.

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A. I didn’t see that, I didn’t see that.

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Q. Are you able to say whether or not that may have happened but you didn’t see it or it didn’t happen; do you understand?

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A. It didn’t happen.

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Q. It didn’t happen?

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A. No.

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AA (int): I did NOT see the shorter man (driver of the silver car) hit him (RD) or touch him in any way.

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Again, this supports our view that he wrongly assumed Hunt to be the driver of the silver car.

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AA (int) I saw the man with the knife in the blue jacket walk to the man from the BMW and, with the knife in his right hand, he used an upward motion with the knife stabbing him in the chest area. I could see blood come out quickly on the white shirt. The man in the blue jacket did this once. The driver of the silver car was standing next to him.

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In his court testimony, ***** admitted walking towards Darby to confront him. And ***** also said he was struck on the head by Darby, so there was definitely contact between them.

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Police found a blue jacket discarded on the floor of *****’s nearby flat.

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AA (court): Obviously, the driver of the silver car get out first and then the passenger get out as well . . . passenger got out 10 seconds after him and went round back of silver car to confront driver of black car. . . Passenger had a kitchen knife wrapped in a white cloth . . . I saw the blade – about six inches – when he took it out of the cloth.

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AA (int st): The blade of the knife was about three inches, just shorter than the length of a pen.

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AA (court): It was white – a cloth or t-shirt – and rolled up. White cloth, I think.

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AA (int): I don’t know who stabbed him but I saw something, it was quick, they stabbed him quickly. 

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AA (court): They all came together at the same time . . . I believe the passenger stabbed the man in the black BMW in the left side of his chest, in an upward motion.

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What! So in his first police interview, given within hours of the incident, when you would expect his memory to be at its sharpest, AA stated (above) that he “didn’t know” who stabbed Darby. And yet EIGHT YEARS LATER, he swore on oath that the passenger from the silver car was the stabber.

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AA (court): "Yes," he agreed with Howker that he DID have doubts as to how the stabbing occurred, or who caused the stabbing.

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AA (int): I think when he (RD) got – hang on, when he got out from the car he got out from the car, right, and that guy approached him, so he moved, he moved back – and me, I was walking by, and that’s why I couldn’t see. I was walking straight and looking my head down, and when he was stabbed there was a thing in front of his car.

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AA (court) didn't know what was meant by walking and looking down.

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AA (court): I did not see the short man from the silver car – the driver – hitting or touching the man in white (shirt).

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AA (court): On the black BMW driver's side. In between the two, next to the black BMW. In between. The three men were all shouting at each other, using the F-word . . . driver of the black BMW got out and was aggressive.

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AA (int st): All three men were shouting at each other and all appeared aggressive. I was concerned.

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AA (court): Driver of the silver car come out and they (MP & RD) confront each other. Yes, they clashed by the black car. But I cannot see the hands of the driver of the silver car because my view is obscured by the black car.

 

STANLEY KNIFE IN DARBY'S HAND

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AA (court): It wasn't a knife, it was a yellow (windscreen) scraper. I saw the yellow handle in his right hand. Asked by Howker if he had mentioned the scraper to police before in interviews and witness statements, AA admitted: "No, he had NOT." He claimed that Howker had "remembered" him (reminded him).

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AA (court) said he did not see a knife in RD's hand.

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AA (court) said that while the two men "probably" touched/clashed, he did NOT see RD strike the driver of the silver car.

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AA (court) didn't see either man duck down or fall below the level of the car.

 

AHMED'S VIEW OF DARBY

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AA (int st) he was facing the two men from the silver car.

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AA (court):  I only saw the top half of RD's body because he was on the driver's side. Yes, the car was between me and him. The roof would have been around chest-high on me. Ahmed couldn't recall whether RD had left his driver's door open.

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DESCRIPTIONS AND AGES OF THE THREE MEN

(Based on our assertion that AA mistakenly believed ***** and Hunt emerged from Sally Palmer's small silver car)

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PASSENGER IN SILVER CAR (he is describing *****)

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AA (int): hair was short and dark... normal short, not shaven... a 'Number 2'.

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AA (int st): dark, short hair, taller than me, wearing a royal blue jacket, aged 30-to-40. Looked fit in physical appearance.

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AA (int st revised 20/10/2005): The knifeman was about 6ft. And so was the driver of the black BMW.

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AA (court): Person holding the knife was big... black hair... bulky... fit... tall... aged 30-to-40.

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DRIVER OF SILVER CAR (he is describing Hunt)

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AA (int): Fluffy hair... dark brown... like big hair, not short... came up to his collar, sort of longer on top... it looked like a design. He didn't comb it.

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AA (in st): Short, 5ft 6ins... normal build, not skinny or fat... hair was thick and brown but not long, a couple of inches in thickness from his head.

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AA (court): Driver of the silver car was short... about 5ft, about my height (Dennison adjusted this to 5ft 6ins)... normal, average build... hair thick and brown, not long... hair sticking up and uncombed, sticking up a couple of inches from his head... aged about 30-to-35.

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DRIVER OF BLACK BMW (Darby)

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AA (court): Man who was stabbed was wearing a white shirt... he was quite tall, about 6ft... skinny build... aged about 30-to-35.

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WHAT MEN WERE WEARING

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AA (court): Stabber wore a dark blue jacket (didn't mention zip-up).

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AA (int & court): Driver of black BMW wore white shirt.

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It appears that AA was not asked by detectives to describe clothing worn by the third man he saw (Hunt).

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MOVEMENT OF DARBY POST-STABBING

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AA (int st): As I looked back I could see the man in the white shirt fall in the entrance to the pub car park.

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If he looked behind him to see Darby fall, he must have walked beyond the pub, nearer to the end of Perth Road.

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AA (court): The man who was stabbed walked through to the pub and then collapsed... I watched him fall in pub car park... I stayed watching until the helicopter and police came... people came out from pub to try and help RD.

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AA also said in court that he didn't see any blood until Darby fell to the ground in the pub car park. But in his original testimony he said he saw blood at the moment Robert was stabbed.

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MOVEMENT OF JASON & ***** POST-STABBING

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AA (court): No, I didn't see the passenger in the silver car chase RD down the road for a little bit.

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AA (court): I didn't see where the two men in the silver car went... I was in shock.

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HUNT'S PRESENCE & MOVEMENTS

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AA (court): I saw only ONE person in the black BMW (didn't notice Hunt). After he walked past the black car, he admits he would have been able to see through the passenger or front windscreen but still didn't notice a passenger.

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AA (court):  After driver of black BMW collapsed in pub car park, I think the black car stayed on the road... didn't see it come past me into the pub car park. Didn't see the man's friend (Hunt) drive into car park, take knife out of RB's hand and hide it behind advertising board.

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WEATHER CONDITIONS

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AA (int): It was raining heavily.

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AA (court): It was raining slightly, not heavily... I was wearing a hat (under cross-examination, he accepts it probably was raining heavily)

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SALLY PALMER (Witness B)

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AA (int st) I noticed another silver car in front of the black BMW with a lady inside it. She was a white female and the car was stopped near the kerb.

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AA (court):  She didn’t get out from her car. She was sitting in her car. She didn’t get out but she’d seen all the things. She’d seen what happened... I can't remember what colour car she drove... no, I didn't see her drive along Perth Road... it was raining. I don't know if it was there before the two BMWs pulled up... I didn't notice her until AFTER the incident, when I was standing by the pub, for a long time.

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AA corrects his earlier comment, admitting: "I don't know that she was there from the start of the incident."

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ID PARADE & PROCEDURES

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AA (int): In answer to PC Bartle's question: 'Would you recognise them (the two men in silver car) again, AA replied: 'No'.

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On September 22, 2005, AA attended his first ID video parade and viewed two films. He picked out one man in the first film who he said was the stabber. "Yes, I was confident I had picked the right man." But it turned out to be a police volunteer! He failed to pick out anyone in the second video.

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AA (court): Confident I still could remember and recognise them (two men in the silver car).

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AA (court): When cross-examined by Howker, he admitted it was "odd" that he picked out a different person as the stabber in 2005 compared to the one (JM) he picked out SEVEN YEARS later, in October 2012.

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AA (court): Asked by Howker if anybody, including police, had ever shown him photos of anyone, he replied: 'Who, the police? No'. He also denied being influenced by newspaper or online coverage of the case.

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See ID Parades Here

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How could any person be convicted based largely on Abdul Ahmed's evidence? It defies believe that, in the absence of forensic or CCTV evidence, any jury could find a man guilty of murder based on this catalogue of contradictions and inaccuracies.

It's as if his one line: "Passenger was the stabber" is all members of the jury considered. But re-read his above account and you try to make sense of it. There are large pot holes wherever you look.

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Our simple question to Abdul Ahmed is this:

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Please take a look at the two videos on our home page and ask yourself, 'is the tall man – the 'Big Fella' Jason Moore – really the person you saw stab Robert Darby?'

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If not, please do the decent thing . . . come forward and admit that you got it wrong. We all make mistakes. And it is never too late to put things right . . .

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