Haile Langa murder trial: Accused claims victim held a knife to his throat
Haile Langa was satbbed to death in November last year - Credit: Archant
An alleged drug dealer accused of stabbing to death a man in Kilburn claimed the victim was holding a knife to his throat.
Haile Langa, 21, was knifed in the heart in an underground car park after being picked up by a white Mercedes.
The Old Bailey heard he managed to flee the scene in Watling Gardens, off Shoot Up Hill, Kilburn, on November 5 last year, but collapsed on a nearby grassy verge.
Alleged drug dealers Imaan Farjani, 19, of Unity Close, Willesden, Ahmed El-Sayed, 20, of Watling Gardens, Kilburn, and a 14-year-old who wielded the knife are on trial for his murder.
Farjani was driving the car, with the 14-year-old in the passenger seat.
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The 14-year-old has admitted causing the victim’s death, but claims he acted in self-defence when Mr Langa tried to rob him.
Giving evidence Farjani insisted Mr Langa had got into his car voluntarily, before holding a knife to his throat and demanding he drive him further down the road.
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Instead, he decided to drive to the Watling Gardens Estate, where close friend El-Sayed lived.
He claimed that he was in fear of his life.
But during the drive, he managed to take two phone calls one from his mother the other from El-Sayed .
Prosecutor Zoe Johnson QC said: “This is a call that you took because you were completely in control of the situation.”
Farjani said the victim had been threatening both him and the second defendant when he refused to follow his directions and took a different route.
He claimed he saw the 14-year-old and the victim tussling as the younger boy tried to pull him out of the car, but didn’t see him get stabbed.
All three deny murder.
The trial continues.
