Widow’s courtroom outburst at thug who killed her Pizza Hut delivery driver husband to steal a £50 takeaway
Mum-of-three Fawzia Qasemi yelled at Joel Lawson as he described the moment he punched her husband Ali in a drunken ambush
THE widow of a Pizza Hut delivery driver killed in a botched robbery for a £50 takeaway order screamed "burn in hell, you're evil" as the thug who inflicted the fatal blow on her husband gave evidence in court today.
Ali Qasemi, 45, whose wife Fawzia was pregnant with their third child, was hijacked by two men who wanted free pizza after bingeing on booze and cocaine, a jury heard.
Joel Lawson punched Mr Qasemi, who hit his head on the pavement and died two days after the attack in the early hours of Sunday May 8.
Lawson, 25, has admitted manslaughter and robbery but his co-defendant Mark Lintott, 29, denies the same charges and is on trial at Peterborough crown court.
Lawson, of Norwich, told the court he and a group of friends had been drinking lager and using cocaine at Lintott's flat in Peterborough for most of the Saturday.
Lintott said he was hungry, pulled some food menus out of a drawer and phoned Pizza Hut - giving a non-existent door number "so there was no comeback to his address", Lawson said.
He told the jury: "He asked if anyone wanted to chip in. They said they didn't fancy no food.
"He didn't mention nothing about paying for it. He said he was going to snatch it and run off with it."
Lawson described people in the flat laughing as Lintott phoned in the takeaway order, and said Lintott asked him to come outside as "back-up" in case the delivery man had someone else with him.
He said he saw deliveryman Mr Qasemi standing by his car facing away from them.
They were "giggling" and Lintott was "telling me to shush" as they approached the driver together, he told the court.
Lawson said: "Just as we met him he turned around and I threw a punch."
Mr Qasemi's widow, who wept through much of the hearing, screamed at Lawson as he described the punch, with Lintott sitting in the secure dock at the back of the court.
She yelled: "Why you did that? You evil people.
"You don't deserve to be a father. Burn in hell, you're evil."
She was escorted out of the court and offered tissues.
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Lawson said Lintott had taken the pizzas back to the flat, leaving Mr Qasemi on the ground.
He said: "Everyone was sort of laughing at the time.
"Someone said 'I can't believe you've done it'.
"He (Lintott) said 'he banged him' or 'he dropped him' or something like that."
Asked why he was giving evidence, Lawson said: "I'm responsible and the family deserve a bit of justice.
"I made a huge mistake and this is the only thing I thought I could do to right that wrong.
"I know it's not a lot, but it's all I could do being in prison and everything else."
Lawson said he had planned to take his partner and children to the beach at Great Yarmouth on the Saturday but went on a binge in Peterborough instead when Lintott called him on the Friday.
The prosecution say that although Lawson threw the punch, both he and Lintott were "equally responsible" as they hatched the plan together.
Lawson said he had previously seen Lintott jump out of a taxi and run off without paying and fight with friends and nephews.
The trial continues.
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