A MAN who was out celebrating the life of his recently-deceased mother was stabbed and shot at outside a pub, a court heard.
Many of the men who attacked Damien Miller on January 18 last year were armed and wore masks, according to the prosecution in a trial which started at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court
Omar Arbab, aged 20, of Rushton Close, Cobridge, 25-year-old Nasir and 28-year-old Naim Aziz, both of Wulstan Road, Cobridge, and Tasab Hussain, aged 28, and 22-year-old Asrar Sami, both of Waterloo Road, Cobridge, are accused of violent disorder.
They also face alternative charges of carrying a firearm with criminal intent, and carrying an imitation firearm with criminal intent. They all deny the charges.
Prosecutor Mark Haywood told the court Mr Miller had been to the Portofino restaurant, in Hanley, with friends and family members to remember his mother Kim Cliffe, who died earlier that month.
The group moved on to The Wedgwood Inn on Waterloo Road, Cobridge.
Mr Haywood said: "Damien Miller was reluctant to go because in the recent past he'd had some problems with a group of men in that area.
"He decided to go, no doubt thinking in those circumstances there would be no difficulties arising.
"But while the family was in the pub, the prosecution say the five defendants decided to lure Miller and other members of the family outside and attack him.
"These five men and others were all ready for violence. Some of them wore masks. Many of them were armed. Their real target was Damian Miller. He was shot at and he was stabbed several times – being caused serious injuries."
Mr Haywood told the jury that on entering the pub, Mrs Cliffe's daughter Roxanne and son Jake noticed Sami standing in the upstairs window of a house opposite, holding what looked like a mobile phone.
He said: "Within 15 minutes of these people arriving at the pub, that armed, masked gang had gathered outside and you may conclude they had planned sufficiently to be laying in wait for their victims."
The prosecution claim that Naim Aziz, entered the pub and shouted obscenities at the group, in an attempt to goad them outside.
Mr Haywood added: "The insults had the desired effect. Damien Miller was chased down and was stabbed. We say while he was under attack, Nasir Aziz approached him and pulled out a sawn-off shotgun and aimed it at him.
"Evidence you will hear suggests that the gun was fired not once but twice."
Pub barmaid Mandy Jackson, who had been working on the night of the alleged incident, was the first witness on the stand.
She said: "There was some arguing outside. There was a lot of shouting. I remember Damien shouting 'What's your problem?'.
"He went to the middle of the road. Someone threw a bottle or a glass but I don't know who.
"I heard a loud bang – either a gun or a firework. People started running in all directions and that's when I shut the pub door because there were children inside."
Mr Haywood asked Mrs Jackson what happened when Mr Miller returned to the pub. She said: "He was covered in blood. He was bleeding from his arm and his side."
The trial continues.
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