Rakar Rahimi held Bako Sheikha at knifepoint in Colchester, court told

Bako Azad Sheikha, 22, was found fatally injured in Distillery Lane in the Hythe, Colchester, at about 2am on September 12 last year.

Rakar Rahimi, 23, was arrested later in Dover that evening as he tried to flee to France and was subsequently charged with Bako’s murder.

A video played to Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday showed Bako being filmed by Rahimi, it is alleged, in their shared property in Haven Road, Colchester.

Murder investigation - Bako Azad Sheikha (Image: Newsquest)

The jury saw Bako, who is holding a phone and sat on a sofa, and Rahimi, who is holding a knife, having a tense discussion in Kurdish Sorani.

Andrew Jackson, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was threatening Mr Sheikha with a very large, yellow handled knife.

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“It was that knife which was found next to Mr Sheikha’s body following the murder.”

Mr Jackson said Rahimi “made it clear that it was no joke” as to whether he was being serious while holding the blade or not and that he was angered about something on Bako's phone.

Cordon - police officers guard the scene in Distillery Lane (Image: Daniel Rees, Newsquest)

“[This is] the knife that within a few minutes of this video being made he [Rahimi] used to inflict fatal injuries to the man who had just been sitting on the sofa,” he added.

“This was not a conversation you may think was between two friends, flatmates, talking about the events of a day but a conversation carried on at knifepoint.”

Mr Jackson told the court the knife was found discarded in Distillery Lane and it had Bako’s blood on it and the defendant’s DNA.

The footage shows Rahimi usher Bako out of the property while, unseen on camera, removing a Ring doorbell attached to a neighbour’s door.

Examination - a forensics worker in Distillery Lane (Image: Daniel Rees, Newsquest)

The jury was told Rahimi then drove his flatmate, who he met through the Kurdish community, a short distance to Distillery Lane where he stabbed him through the heart.

Rahimi, of Wellington Street, Ipswich, denies murder.

• The trial continues

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