After a trial lasting more than a month, jurors have begun to deliberate their verdicts in the case of a Indian restaurant manager who was killed on Valentine's Day.
Vignesh Pattabi-Raman, 36 and from Coimbatore, India, was cycling home from his penultimate shift at the Vel Indian restaurant in Whitley Street when he was knocked down by a stolen Range Rover in Addington Road shortly before midnight on February 14.
The restaurant manager, who had text his wife shortly before his death, was found with a pool of blood around his head and died the next day in hospital, the court had heard.
The subsequent murder investigation saw Mr Shazeb Khalid, 24 and previously of Engineers Court, and Mr Soliheem Hussain, 27 and of Rossby in Shinfield, each charged with count of murder.
Ms Mya Reilly, 20 and of Chiltern Gardens in Woodcote, Oxfordshire, has been charged with assisting an offender and perverting the course of justice.
The trio deny the charges, while Mr Khalid has admitted one count of manslaughter.
Today in court, Judge Amjad Nawaz addressed the jury with a summary of the case before the jurors retired to deliberate their verdicts. He has told the jury that they will need to reach a unanimous decision - as a majority verdict will not be accepted.
The prosecution has argued that the restaurant's operation manager, Mr Mohammed Sadiq Ishmail, was concerned that Mr Raman would report to the authorities that staff at the restaurant were in the UK illegally.
Previously, the court had heard how the restaurant had been fined £20,000 for immigration infractions in April 2023.
The crown's case is that Mr Sadiq asked Mr Hussain to threaten Mr Raman, with Mr Hussain recruiting Mr Khalid to do "really serious harm" to the 36-year-old, Mr Nawaz summarised.
Earlier in the trial, Mr Khalid had told the court that he had expected to be paid £2,000 to "talk" to Mr Raman about the immigration matter and the most he planned to do was "grab" Mr Raman's clothing to intimidate him.
Giving evidence from the witness stand earlier, Mr Hussain, who works as a part time mechanic and food delivery drive, had denied discussing forms of payments.
Mr Khalid - who does not have a UK driving licence - had paid £500 for a stolen Range Rover the night before he drove it from the Vel restaurant to Addington Road, following Mr Raman.
Mr Khalid, Judge Nawaz said in his summary, had told the court that he had sped-up to catch up to Mr Raman before reaching nearby road works. At this point he found himself close to Mr Raman, lost control of the car, and collided with a tree, only realising he had hit Mr Raman after existing the stolen car.
The judge noted that Mr Khalid had been seen driving the vehicle, including parking manoeuvres, for several hours before the incident. The judge also rereferred to an expert witness who said there was no damage to the car that could explain a driver losing control.
A witness called to give evidence had seen a figure exit the car, move in front of it, and make arm movements like "striking down with a hammer."
Judge Nawaz noted that the prosecution had tried to argue this was either Mr Khalid striking Mr Raman or Mr Khalid trying to open the restaurant manager's backpack.
Mr Raman's backpack had to be cut from his body and was found to have its main section unzipped. Mr Khalid denies seeing or touching the backpack.
Less than an hour after the crash, Mr Khalid was caught on CCTV allegedly discussing "loads of money" with Mr Hussain. The 24-year-old had told the court that he was discussing the cost to repair a tyre damaged in the collision.
The defence have said the money is a "dead duck," according to Judge Nawaz, as the defence say "there was no evidence that money was put in there and no evidence to be sure that Mr Khalid opened the bag."
Previous witnesses had said that £800 was a normal day's takings at the restaurant, with around £1,000 being the most seen on a weekend.
Mya Reilly, who was in a relationship with Mr Khalid at the time of the incident, did not take to the witness stand during the trial.
She is accused of perverting the course of justice by destroying a home belonging to Mr Khalid, who had text her "I have a mission later" before he set off to the Vel on Valentine's Day.
Ms Reilly's defence team had argued that the phone was destroyed during an argument between the couple.
The jury remains out for deliberations.
The Reading Chronicle has been the only outlet to regularly attend court since the beginning of the trial.
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