Murder accused 'never meant to hurt' girlfriend

A truck driver who has denied murdering his 19-year-old girlfriend by pinning her against a lamppost with his vehicle has told a jury he hit her accidentally.

Mohammed Azim, 41, is accused of murdering his girlfriend Lily Whitehouse on 5 November, just after she had been to visit her premature baby, fathered by another man, in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Azim, of Tividale Road, Tipton, is alleged to have crushed her against a lamp-post in Old Park Lane in Oldbury.

The prosecution told the court it appeared as if he was "nudging or pushing" Whitehouse with the truck before using it as "a weapon".

Prosecutors allege Whitehouse suffered catastrophic chest injuries when Azim used his Mercedes Sprinter to crush her, during an argument on his 41st birthday.

"The defendant is driving the truck as if he was nudging or pushing her along the road," Rachel Brand KC told the court, during the prosecution's opening speech.

"Lily started running, the vehicle is pursuing her at a low speed but, nevertheless, we say he was clearly using that large, heavy vehicle as a weapon."

Azim, who is on trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court, told a jury on Monday that he hit her accidentally after dropping her off near her home.

The defendant wiped his eyes with a tissue in the witness box as he denied that there had been an argument with Whitehouse, who he had been in an on-off relationship with since 2023.

Azim told the jury he picked Whitehouse up after she got off a bus from Russells Hall Hospital where she had been visiting her baby and was going to drop her home in Amber Drive, Oldbury.

Whitehouse allegedly asked him to sit with her for 10 minutes before she went home, so he pulled up nearby and the two chatted and scrolled on their phones.

Azim told the court he had wanted to leave as he had to work early the next day, but Whitehouse pleaded with him to stay longer.

He claimed he got out of the van to hug her and she came in front of the van to stop him from leaving.

Azim said he started to drive slowly to the left to go around Whitehouse but had to swerve back to the right because of parked cars.

"I hear a bang at the back. It could have been Lily jumping on the truck. I felt something bump the back," he said.

"I feel the back tyres, like something come under the tyre or something drop under the tyre.

"I looked back and saw Lily on the floor in the middle of the road."

After the teenager was hurt, Azim was alleged to have picked her up and put her in his truck while dialling 999.

Azim said: "I didn't want to waste time and wait for am ambulance, I wanted to take her to the hospital."

He was asked by his defence counsel, Imran Shafi, how he felt that he had killed Whitehouse and why he told the emergency services he had seen another car hit her.

"I didn't believe all this at the time that it was me. I know I have lied, it was a lie, but I don't know, I couldn't believe this had happened," he replied.

Asked if he intended to hurt Whitehouse, Azim said: "I never wanted to hurt Lily."

The defendant told the jury Whitehouse relied on him for support and that she did not have many friends, so would text and call him often while he was working.

Jurors were also told of text messages between the defendant and Whitehouse in which she regularly begged Azim to see her and accused him of seeing other women.

Azim denied ever assaulting Whitehouse, adding: "She send messages that are not true to get my attention.

"She would see me and say sorry to me, she knew she was saying wrong on the phone just to see me."

The trial continues.

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