Leeds boxing coach denies murder over gang killing

Denzil Brown Senior - who was coaching his son Denzil Browne Junior to be a professional boxer - is standing trial at Leeds Crown Court over Mr Lewis's death outside his home on Reginald Street on August 1 last year.

A Leeds Court jury was told gunman Steven Grey and Jonathan Gledhill - who acted as a "stalker" - were convicted of murdering Mr Lewis following a trial in July because he was a member of a rival drug dealing gang called the Flock.

Three others - Denzil Browne Junior, Owen Clarke and Lewis Pearce - were found guilty of assisting an offender following the July trial.

Pearce 27, of no fixed address, Browne, 23, of Oaklands Crescent, Gipton, and Clarke, 26, of Haw Avenue, Yeadon, helped the killers get away from the Chapeltown area afterwards.

Grey, aged 38, of Town Street, Armley, fired the fatal shot before he and 38-year-old Gledhill, of Dib Lane, Roundhay, ran away for around five minutes.

Denzil Brown Senior, of Parkfield Court, Morley, is standing trail alone. He denies murder.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Dafydd Enoch QC said 50-year-old Brown Snr drove Grey and Gledhill away from Chapeltown in his Mercedes 4x4 following the shooting.

Mr Enoch said Brown Snr dropped Grey and Gledhill off at the border of Chapeltown and Chapel Allerton before returning to the area where the killing happened.

Mr Enoch said Brown Snr then telephoned his son Denzil Browne Junior, who in turn called Owen Clarke who got in his car and went to pick up Grey and Gledhill.

Prosecutors claim Brown Snr was not connected to gang related activities but got involved after his son Denzil Browne Jnr was seriously injured when he was attacked by Flock gang members in a violent clash in Leeds city centre three days before the killing.

Mr Enoch said Browne Jnr was attacked with an axe and a scythe and suffered injuries including slash wound on his back.

The court heard Browne Jnr sent photos of his injuries via Whats App to his father, who was on holiday in Florida.

Mr Enoch told the jury: "Imagine Denzil Brown Senior's reaction, his blood must have been boiling."

Mr Enoch said Brown Snr arrived back in Leeds on the morning of August 1, the day Mr Lewis was shot.

Mr Enoch said: "Mr Brown Senior is well known in the Chapeltown community. He knows most people and most people know him.

"He and his son were involved in professional boxing. He was training his son to that end at the time these events occurred.

"Training his son to be a professional boxer became his raison d'etre, something which he cared about a lot."

Mr Enoch added: "This defendant is not the sort of man or the sort of father who would take the axe attack on his son lying down. He was very angry."

Proceeding.