Huddersfield shopkeeper Gurmail Singh was pinned down and battered with bottles of wine
Gurmail Singh
A third witness, Christopher Baker, launched a flying kick at the other. But both robbers managed to escape.
After calling police, the witnesses went to the shop to investigate.
"The scene which confronted those outside when they went inside was a desperate one," Mr Waterman said.
"The deceased was lying on the floor in the corner of the shop. The turban he always wore was off and his head was badly injured and bleeding."
The jury was shown photographs of the inside of the ransacked shop and of the floor covered in blood.
Subsequent examinations showed Mr Singh had been hit at least five times. He had bruises on his hands from where he had tried to defend himself.
CCTV footage recorded later that night showed Khan and Afzal going into the Odeon Cinema in Bradley Mills.
Khalid and Shafi were seen on CCTV in Malachi’s Restaurant in Huddersfield.
Shafi was heard claiming they had "beaten some guys up and had then run to get away’’.
Mr Waterman said: "It seemed like they were bragging. One of the customers heard them saying such things as they had got away from the copper chopper and that they could be looking at some time for this."
The five later met up at Water Street in Springwood. Two police officers were sent out to investigate reports of rowdy behaviour. They found an empty bottle of Jack Daniels and a bottle of lemonade.
Mr Waterman said: "All five defendants had got together and were sharing a drink and, no doubt, discussing what had happened in their planned robbery."
Mr Waterman also told the jury that Khalid confessed to a friend of his called Mohammed Akram how he had taken part in the attack.
He told the jury: "At one point he told Mr Akram that the group was attacking the shopkeeper, hitting him and hitting him because he was fighting back.
"They pinned him down.
"They used whatever they could lay their hands on to strike him on the head, to knock him out so he couldn’t get back up."
Mr Waterman also told the jury the defendant Aslam admitted to police he was known by the nickname ‘Crazy’.
The trial is expected to last up to six weeks. The case continues.
