Stab victim's son reveals dispute

Mohammed Raja Shafiq went to the park to protect his son, the court heard

The son of a man fatally stabbed in a park has told a court he was involved in a long-running dispute with the four people accused of his father's murder.

Mohammed Raja Shafiq, 50, died trying to protect his son, Umar, in a fight in Thompson Park, Burnley, on 4 March.

Umar told Manchester Crown Court the fight was over an alleged assault.

Mohammed Bilal Bhatti, 20, Omar Khalid, 19, Shahdab Akhtar, 19, and a 17-year-old youth all deny charges of murder and violent disorder.

The jury was told by Umar Shafiq that around six months prior to the murder of his father he had gone to police and reported Shahdab Akhtar over an alleged assault.

He said in the period leading up to his father's death Mr Akhtar and others, some of whom are on trial for the murder, tried to force him to drop the assault charges.

He told the court this had culminated in them arranging the fight in Thompson Park.

Skull fracture

The jury was told on Monday that Mohammed Shafiq, of York Street in Nelson, Lancashire, had heard about the fight from a security guard at Burnley College, where the three oldest defendants studied.

He had rung the police on a non-emergency number and left a message expressing his concerns.

The court was told he had then set off to meet his son at the park to try to resolve the "ongoing problem" without resorting to a fight.

The jury heard that the message Mr Shafiq had left on the police non-emergency number had not been picked up until "much later".

When he had gone to the park he had been attacked, the court heard, resulting in him being stabbed in the stomach and hit around the head which led to his skull being fractured.

Mr Shafiq was taken to hospital but died a few hours later from blood loss.

The trial continues.