Man who 'left deaf woman to die in street' says he prayed for her

Zahwa fell and fractured her skull,jurors heard (Picture: PA)

A raver accused of killing a deaf theatre worker when he ‘threw her out of a crowded car’ said he got on his knees and prayed she was okay.

Duane Owusu,nicknamed ‘Nasty’,had been out at a rave when he and his group invited Zahwa Mukhtar,27,into their already cramped vehicle.

When Ms Mukhtar began picking fights with the others in the car and taking videos,Owusu,36,shouted for the car to stop and threw her to the pavement,the Old Bailey heard.

He kicked her to the face twice and punched her to the ground as she tried to get up,causing her to fall and fracture her skull,jurors heard.

The fatal incident,on August 16 last year,was captured by cameras outside a care home on Chadwell Heath Lane,Romford,east London.

Ms Mukhtar,a finance assistant at the Young Vic Theatre in Waterloo who was born and lived in Hackney,died at the scene.

Giving evidence at the Old Bailey today,Owusu said he did not intend to hurt Ms Mukhtar.

He said that after he and his group had driven away from the incident,leaving Ms Mukhtar behind,he received a call from a neighbour.

‘She said there were loads of feds outside the block,’ he said,but added he thought the police were there for a neighbour who often had run-ins with them.

But he said the neighbour called back,telling him police were on his floor and were investigating an incident in the Chadwell Heath area.

‘I definitely connected the dots then,’ Owusu said. ‘I didn’t think she was seriously hurt,but then I started thinking in my head,there are a lot of people,so it must be something serious.’

He said he called his solicitor because he was ‘concerned’,but added: ‘I hadn’t figured out why,yet,but said that I’d let him know when I do.

‘I was just trying to recollect when I pushed her,did she hurt herself,and we’d just left her there. I was just trying to hope it’s nothing too serious.’

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He said: ‘I thought the worst,has she passed out and died from cold,or something leading to her death? I actually physically got on my knees and prayed that she’s okay. I believed she had maybe passed away at this point.’

He said he then decided to go to bed and slept all day and through the night.

‘I was so depressed,I was scared,praying. I completely slept until the next day. I’d been out drinking as well,so all of that stress thinking about what happened,I was so drained,so I slept all day until the next day.’

He said the next day he was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Michael Borrelli,KC,defending Owusu,said: ‘At any point in that incident outside the car did you deliberately hurt Ms Mukhtar?’

‘No,’ Owusu replied.

Owusu,of Dagenham,denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.

The trial continues.

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