Murder accused 'sped away' as pregnant teen fell, jury told

A pregnant teenager allegedly went into premature labour after her boyfriend sped off in his vehicle, causing her to fall in the road, a murder trial has heard.

Recovery truck driver Mohammed Azim, 41, is on trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court, accused of killing Lily Whitehouse on 5 November, by crushing her against a lamp-post with his van, in Oldbury, in the West Midlands.

Just months before her death, the 19-year-old mum had given birth to a premature baby that was fathered by another man, the court has been told.

Azim, of Tividale Road in Tipton, denies murdering Whitehouse, who had just been to visit her baby in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Giving evidence at the trial on Thursday, the victim's aunt, Melissa Wheeler, told the jury her niece had met Azim, who she referred to as H, when she was 16 or 17 after they exchanged numbers in West Bromwich High Street and began a relationship.

During questioning by junior prosecution counsel Robert Price, Wheeler agreed that the victim had been "besotted" with Azim, but that the pair would fight a lot.

She said she was aware that Azim was not the father of Whitehouse's baby and he was "not happy" that she was pregnant, so she would hide her bump with long clothing when she visited or stayed with him.

Price asked the witness about how Whitehouse came to be in labour 10 weeks early.

"She said she had an argument with H," Wheeler said.

"I'm not sure what it was about, H sped off in the car and she fell over and cut her hand."

Whitehouse went to hospital the next day in a taxi and her baby was born soon after, the court heard.

Libby Higgs, a friend of the victim, told the trial about the nature of Whitehouse's relationship with the defendant.

She said: "She told me he used to say vile things to her, he used to punch her and do things to her like that, and at points it would mark her arms.

"She knew the relationship she was in wasn't a healthy one and she knew she had to leave him, but she didn't know what it was, she couldn't leave him."

Higgs described an incident about a year before her friend died, saying Whitehouse called her and she could hear Azim shouting in the background.

When she spoke to the victim a few hours later, she said Whitehouse explained they had been arguing, and while in Azim's car, he had "picked up her phone and chucked it at her face".

The witness also recalled the victim's mindset after she had become a mum.

"She said when [the baby] was discharged she was going to leave H, because she knew she couldn't remain in a relationship with him because of social services."

The trial, in front of High Court judge, Mr Justice Murray, continues.

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