SIX men are standing trial accused of murder, attempted murder, and aggravated burglary.

The group are appearing at Basildon Crown Court over the death of Asqeri Spaho in Westcliff on December 12, 2019.

The trial is expected to last nine weeks. 

Mitchell Harris, 29, of no fixed address, Scott Heaney 22, of Hurlock Street, Highbury, Brian Kinloch, 31, of Beachcroft Way, Upper Holloway, Wesley Hendrickson, 31, of Ashcroft Crescent in Enfield, Leon Wright, 31, of Highbury New Park, and Durald Sokoli, 27, of Ayley Croft, Enfield, all deny the charges. 

Here is what the court heard this week as the trial got underway. 

‘Gang murdered man in raid on £50k drugs farm’

A gang tried to steal £50,000 worth of cannabis and murdered a man who stood in their way in a “savage and brutal” attack, a court heard.

A jury heard six men drove from London to Southend, before raiding a flat full of cannabis and viciously slaughtering one man and tried to kill another, who fled out of a window.

The victim, Asqeri Spaho, was stabbed seven times during the raid, with the worst wound measuring 18 centimetres and puncturing his lung.

Prosecuting at Basildon Crown Court yesterday, Edmund Burge said the gang had gone to Tintern Avenue in Westcliff on December 12, 2019 armed with knives and swords. They took duvet cases to bag up the drugs.

Mr Burge said: “At 2am on the 12th, two car loads of men drove together in convoy from North London to Southend.

“We say they were on their way to Southend for an attack on a cannabis farm set up inside a house in Southend, sometimes called a grow house. It was in an upstairs flat and loft in Tintern Avenue.

“In the early hours, these six men drove out to Southend in order to steal from it."

He said at least three of them went into the flat from the rear, when they attacked Mr Spaho and another man, who the prosecution say were working as ‘gardeners’.

He said: “The fight started and the intruders forced their way in and started attacking the gardeners. Both were asleep, unarmed and taken by surprise.”

He said at least three of them went into the flat from the rear, when they attacked Mr Spaho and another man, who the prosecution say were working as ‘gardeners’.

He said: “The fight started and the intruders forced their way in and started attacking the gardeners. Both were asleep, unarmed and taken by surprise.”

‘I was drenched in blood as I fled gang raid’

A man leapt out of a flat window “covered in blood” and flagged down a car to escape a sword-wielding gang, a court heard.

Mr Spaho died from stab wounds at the address in Tintern Avenue, while another man was attacked but fled through the upstairs window and survived.

The jury was played the man’s pre-recorded police interview, which took place in hospital on January 4 last year.

Speaking via a translator, the victim said: “We were covered in blood.

“I was drenched in blood down my leg. I had been cut in four or five places.

“I went out and I put my arms up and tried to stop a car.

“Many cars went by but only one of them stopped. I was drenched in blood.”

He said he had been offered work tending the cannabis plants and that he would be paid £5,000 following three months’ work.

The victim said the plants were set to have been harvested the next day.

Victim ‘tended to a drugs farm for food’

A man who was attacked by a gang allegedly raiding a cannabis farm took a job there “because he had nothing”, a court heard.

The court heard that Mr Spaho and the other man had been employed as gardeners at the farm.

The man appeared in person in court, giving evidence via a translator.

Representing Leon Wright, one of the defendants, Henry Grunwald suggested the man had tried to avoid telling police how significant his role in the farm was.

He said: “Were you trying to minimise your involvement in that cannabis house?”

The man responded: “I would be paid £5,000, I was told to water the plants but I had difficulties.

“I had no job, no nothing, it was so bad.”

Mr Grunwald continued: “The money was important to you, wasn’t it?”

The man replied: “Yes, because I needed the money because I didn’t have any food. That’s the reason I did it, what was necessary. I was working in a car wash and I was being paid £40 and I couldn’t afford it. I washed dishes as well.”

The trial continues.