This is the dramatic moment a car ploughs into clubbers on a packed dancefloor in an alleged attempt to cause ‘carnage and death’.
Mohammed Abdul is at the wheel of the Suzuki Vitara which can be seen careering down an alleyway towards a marquee at the rear of Blake’s nightclub in Gravesend, Kent.
Just a few minutes earlier the 21-year-old had been thrown out by doormen for being drunk, Maidstone Crown Court heard.
The court was told he allegedly threatened staff that he would return to kill them and ‘shut the place down’.
The nightspot had a 600-strong crowd on Saturday, March 17 this year awaiting a guest appearance by grime rap artist Giggs.
CCTV footage released by a high court judge today and shown to a jury initially shows Abdul, who admits being at the wheel, being escorted out at about 11.40pm.
Mohammed Abdul, circled, was thrown out of Blake’s nightclub, Kent, for allegedly being too drunk. Around 600 partygoers visited the club on Saturday, March 17 awaiting a guest appearance by grime rap artist Giggs
Abdul, left, argued with bouncers and ended up on the ground. He then allegedly threatened staff that he would return to kill them and ‘shut the place down’
Abdul is captured walking off just before midnight, sent home before grime rap artist Giggs was due on stage
After arguing with bouncers and ending up on the ground, he is captured walking off before returning in his Vitara just before midnight.
The footage shows him pulling up in front of the club in Queen Street. As staff approach, he manouevres into the tight space.
One doorman, who told Maidstone Crown Court he feared the occupant had a gun, managed to open the driver’s door before the vehicle is alleged to have accelerated at speed down the alleyway running adjacent to the main nightclub building.
Desperate staff can be seen trying to stop the Vitara as it careers through closed metal gates and into a smoking area.
One doorman hits the windscreen before sliding off to the side, spinning against a wall and then landing on his feet before he chases the car.
Clubbers can be seen diving to safety, with one young woman who had fallen to the ground and in the car’s direct path was shown being dragged to safety in the nick of time.
The footage then switches to the marquee, which as well as the chequered dancefloor has a DJ booth, bar, toilets and sofas.
Pulling up in front of the club on Queen Street, he manouevres into the tight space as staff approach
Abdul is alleged to have accelerated at speed down the alleyway running adjacent to the main nightclub building. One doorman hits the windscreen before sliding off to the side, spinning against a wall and then landing on his feet before he chases the car
Clubbers can be seen diving to safety out of the path of the car, running into the club’s side door in the nick of time
One young woman who has fallen to the ground and in the car’s direct path is shown being dragged to safety
The car carries on down the alleyway towards the main dancefloor building, where Giggs was due to perform
Headlights can be seen at the entrance before the car ploughs onto the dancefloor, hitting unsuspecting revellers in a way described by one witness as ‘like dominoes’, the court heard.
Abdul then reverses back to the entrance before finally coming to a halt.
His car was then said to have been ‘swarmed’ by angry and upset clubbers, the court heard.
Katie Wells, then 18, described to the court how she suffered two fractures to her pelvis when the Suzuki Vitara ‘launched’ towards her.
She ended up underneath the vehicle and was left with tyre marks on her thighs.
Bouncers at Blake’s in Gravesend, Kent, feared it was a terrorist attack and the driver may have been armed with either a gun or explosives, the court heard.
Miss Wells was at the nightspot with a friend on Saturday, March 17 this year to see a guest appearance by the grime rap artist Giggs.
Headlights can be seen at the entrance before the car ploughs onto the dancefloor, hitting partygoers in a way described by one witness as ‘like dominoes’. Abdul then reverses back to the entrance before finally coming to a halt
In a statement to police read out in court today, Miss Wells said: ‘My shoe went under the car, I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew I was under the car on the floor. People were smashing the windows and shouting and screaming’
In a statement to police read out in court today, Miss Wells said she was just inside the entrance to a marquee area of the club when she heard a loud bang.
‘It was loud enough to make me turn around. I saw a car’s headlights. It had come through the gates which are normally closed.
‘It headed straight into the marquee area and hit the sofas which went flying. I moved backwards and the car stopped. At this point it had not hit me.
‘It then launched towards me and this all happened very quickly. It hit me with force to the middle of my left side.
‘My shoe went under the car, I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew I was under the car on the floor.
‘I sat up and tried to get away. Somebody pulled me backwards and up from the floor by putting their hands underneath my arms.
‘This was to get me out of the path of the car. At this point the car stopped. People were smashing the windows and shouting and screaming.
‘I thought I had broken my left elbow. I also had pain in my pelvis and couldn’t walk. I was in shock. I had tyre marks on my legs and they went up into my groin area.’
Miss Wells spent two days in King’s College Hospital, London, before being discharged. As well as her fractured pelvis, she suffered a sprained elbow, bruising and friction burns, the court heard.
It is alleged that the Vitara driver, Mohammed Abdul, made a ‘deliberate and indiscriminate’ attempt to kill people at the nightclub in Queen Street after being thrown out for being drunk.
He initially drove down a narrow alley at the side of the building and through metal gates before reaching the marquee at the rear.
A jury at Maidstone Crown Court in Kent heard door staff made desperate attempts to stop the vehicle or to drag people out of its path.
It paused at the marquee entrance for nine seconds before careering into the centre of the dancefloor and then reverseing for several metres, pinning one reveller against the marquee metal frame.
Once it had stopped, the car and 21-year-old Abdul came under attack from those he had allegedly tried to mow down, the court was told.
He was restrained by door staff until police arrived.
Abdul, from Deptford, south east London, denies two offences of attempting to murder persons in the vicinity of the nightclub, as well as an alternative charge of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
High Court Judge Mr Justice Fancourt was told these three offences are in relation to Abdul’s driving in the alleyway and then the marquee itself.
He also denies two charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to Mr Joseph and Miss Wells.
However, the jury heard Abdul accepts he was the driver and has admitted two charges of causing serious injury to Mr Joseph and Miss Wells by dangerous driving.
At the start of the trial on Monday, prosecutor Simon Taylor said Abdul used his car as a weapon by deliberately driving at a large group of people enjoying a night out.
‘The manner in which the defendant drove was not short in either duration or distance. It was a determined and indiscriminate effort to cause carnage and death to anyone who was in his way,’ he added.
‘Mercifully, and no thanks to the defendant, death was not caused by his driving but serious injury was.’
Mr Taylor said it was the Crown’s case Abdul had a ‘specific intent to kill’.
The defence case is expected to start later today.
Barrister Danny Moore, defending, told the jury it would have to decide whether Abdul’s actions were intentional or ‘utterly reckless’.
The trial continues.
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