Jordan Edwards, aged 32, is accused of shooting Elvis Ftoni in a plot to rob his silver van at a car park in Bartley Green in August last year
Police in Clapgate Lane, Birmingham.
An alleged gunman has denied robbing and shooting a van driver in a Birmingham car park and instead claimed it was the victim’s brother who had the firearm.
Jordan Edwards told a jury at Birmingham Crown Court he was unarmed and going to help his friend when he approached the scene of a ‘fight’ at the end of Glen Side, Bartley Green on the afternoon of August 28 last year.
He alleged he was ‘scared’ when Aleks Ftoni then pointed a gun at him before three shots were fired in a subsequent struggle, one of which hit his sibling Elvis Ftoni.
The 32-year-old denied knowing about cash, drugs, a gun and ammunition found at his ‘on and off’ girlfriend Kristina Ermansone’s flat in Hockley a few months later.
Both stand trial at Birmingham Crown Court denying multiple charges.
Giving evidence today (Wednesday, October 15), Edwards claimed he lived in Bromsgrove but had grown up in Bartley Green where he had a number of friends.
He stated on August 28 he was just ‘chilling’ while he was the passenger of a black Audi A3 parked near Woodgate Valley Health Centre in Glen Side, off Clapgate Lane.
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Edwards claimed he got out to check out a nearby white Audi he recognised, when he saw the friend who owned it ‘fighting’ in a car park.
He told the court that ‘the Albanians’, in reference to the Ftoni brothers, had the upper hand over his friend and another white male he did not know.
He said: “I went over to try and help them because they looked like they needed help.”
Edwards denied having a gun or threatening anyone and said: “But as I approached Aleks pulled out a gun. He pointed it at me.”
He claimed he was ‘scared’, adding: “I just ran at him as fast as I could and started fighting with him.
“Trying not to get hurt and stop the situation.
“I started to punch him to his face and also headbutted him several times.”
Police at the scene in Clapgate Lane adjacent to Glen Side(Image: BirminghamLive/Harry Leach)
Edwards stated Elvis Ftoni then ‘got involved’ when Aleks’ gun ‘went off’ causing him and the two brothers to fall to the floor.
He described ‘tussling’ with them when the gun went off a second and third time.
Edwards claimed Aleks hit him to the head with something hard, which he assumed was the gun or another kind of weapon.
He then told the court he ran off and saw that his friend had jumped behind the wheel of a white van so he jumped in as well because ‘it was the closest vehicle to me’.
Edwards confirmed he travelled to Amsterdam in Holland the next day claiming he was ‘scared’ of the two Ftonis.
He returned to the UK in the October saying: “I thought time had passed and it would probably be safe to come back now.”
Edwards accepted that a week prior to the shooting he had had contact with Aleks Ftoni.
He claimed he was in his friend’s white Audi in Bartley Green when Aleks came up behind in another vehicle and flashed at them to pull over.
Edwards told the court Aleks wanted to talk to them about a car that had been stolen from him previously.
He claimed in the days between then and the shooting incident Aleks called and text him requesting to meet and talk about it but he did not want to see him.
Edwards then answered questions about a handgun, ammunition, cocaine and £9,100 in cash that were found by police at Ermansone’s apartment in Hylton Street, Hockley.
The were recovered on January 12 this year, when he was ultimately arrested following a car and foot chase.
Edwards told the court he had been in an ‘on and off casual, sexual relationship’ with Ermansone since meeting her in 2022.
But he claimed she was ‘unfaithful’ to him because she had seen other men, while accepting he too had seen other women during the period, including the mother of his child.
Edwards said that by January this year he was staying at Ermansone’s flat two to three times a week and had left some clothes there.
He denied knowing about a pistol, ammunition and half a kilogram of cocaine found behind a kickboard in her kitchen, stating they did not belong to him.
He further refuted that the £9,100 in cash at the address was his, telling the court Ermansone may have earned the money through photography work.
In connection with the shooting Edwards, now of Coltishall Close, Castle Vale has pleaded not guilty to possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, a lesser alternative offence, conspiracy to commit robbery and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
In relation to the apartment seizure he and Ermansone, aged 37, from Hylton Street, Hockley, have pleaded not guilty to possessing a prohibited weapon, two counts of possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate, possession of a class A drug with intent to supply and possessing criminal property. The trial continues.