Sheffield killer weeps over shooting ‘cousin’
Shot: Deeq Ali, 18, died.
A YOUNG man accused of shooting dead a teenager at a party wept in court as he said he never intended to harm anybody.
Abdi Omar, aged 25, killed Deeq Ali, 18, at a party at Spital Hill Plaza in Burngreave when he pulled a sawn-off shotgun from his trousers and fired.
As he took the stand at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday, Omar wiped away tears as he said he never intended to kill or hurt anybody.
He said he felt ‘gutted’ and added: “I have destroyed a family.
“I think about it every day. It’s the last thing on my mind at night and the first thing in the morning.
“I have been a foolish man, destroyed lives.
“I wish I could go back in time and take his place.”
Omar, of Lopham Street, Burngreave, denies murder but admits the lesser charge of the manslaughter of Mr Ali, of Catherine Road, Burngreave.
He said he fired the gun, at the 24th birthday party of a young woman called Rosalin Roberts, in October last year with the intention of hitting the ceiling behind him.
He said the purpose of firing the gun was to ‘shake everybody up’ and it had been an ‘impulse thing’ not an angry reaction at being asked to leave the venue.
Omar, whose victim was a friend he called his cousin as their two families hail from the same Somalian village, also claims he had been given the gun to look after by another man.
When defence lawyer Bernard Tetlow asked how he felt, Omar replied: “Dreadful. Sorry. Words can’t explain how I feel.
“I can’t replace that person or bring them back to life. I have destroyed his family’s life and destroyed my family’s life.
“It’s not a good place to be.”
The trial continues.
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Friday 24 May 2013
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