An Albanian man, who had been illegally in the United Kingdom for 6 years, secretly left "by truck" just days after stabbing a man to death in the heart.
Maidstone Crown Court was told that Altin Shehu, one of three people now on trial for the murder of Vladimirs Perminovs in Gravesend last summer, had arrived illegally in 2019.
The 34-year-old had said at the start of his testimony that he had come "for a better life", living in the city and working in construction. He also confirmed that he had no criminal convictions either in Britain or in his homeland.
However, it is alleged that on the night of August 12 last year, Shehu, his fellow Albanian Shahin Bulica and his Latvian girlfriend Erika Korsaka acted together when 33-year-old Perminovs was fatally wounded.
The prosecution argues that Korsaka, a mother of two, was the one who initially clashed with her ex-husband's cousin. Armed with knives, Shehu and Bulica were waiting in a nearby alley. Minutes after Leonovs arrived with his girlfriend and his friend, Perminovs, a verbal altercation broke out that quickly escalated into violence.
It is alleged that Korsaka attacked his Latvian girlfriend, Bulica threatened Leonovs with a blade and Shehu stabbed Perminovs. But Shehu told the court that the knife belonged to the Latvian. He said he had feared for his life and could not remember how many times he had stabbed Perminovs. He denied any intention to kill or cause serious harm. Shehu also described his decision to flee the country as "a big mistake".
Giving evidence over two days and through an interpreter, he explained how he got involved in the fight. “For no reason, he was very aggressive towards me, maybe because I was in the middle trying to separate them [the women],” Shehu said.
"He started punching me and kept punching me and kicking me. He kept punching me and then there was a moment when he pulled a knife out of his waist and was coming towards me. He was trying to stab me in the stomach.
"I took a few steps back. He managed to cut my jacket, but he didn't stab me because I pulled back. I continued to fight with him. There was a moment when I hit his hand - the hand he was holding the knife with - and luckily I managed to take the knife out of his hand," said Shehu.
"I was scared for my life. At first I kicked him twice in the leg and told him to go away," he told the court. "He was attacking me again. He came back even stronger."
After the incident, security camera footage captured Shehu and Bulica walking away and hiding a jacket and a hoodie, respectively, in some nearby bushes.
Shehu was arrested in Albania in February this year and then extradited back to the UK in May. He did not oppose extradition and admitted he understood he would be returned to stand trial in relation to the alleged murder. At Heathrow Airport, after being met by officers from Kent Police, Shehu told them he had acted in self-defence that night.
Shehu, Bulica and Korsaka deny the charge of murder as well as the alternative offense of manslaughter. ©LAPSI.al
