A man narrowly avoided being shot in a drive-by shooting in broad daylight, a court heard.

The windscreen of Asif Khan’s BMW was damaged by what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun, but he managed to escape unharmed.

Five men – three of whom are from Kirklees – went on trial at Leeds Crown Court on Monday in connection with the shooting and an arson attack on cars belonging to Mr Khan’s family which were worth a combined £70,000.

The defendants are Wakkas Butt and his friends Shezan Shabir, Irshad Badar, Aadil Malik and Adil Qayyum.

The shooting took place on Back Maud Avenue in the Beeston area of Leeds, which is behind Mannys Fisheries and New King Kebab and Pizza Bar, at about 1.45pm on October 28 last year.

David Brooke QC, prosecuting, said: “This is the general area where the Khan family live, as does Butt.

Leeds Crown Court

“The intended victim, Asif Khan, was sitting in his stationary BMW with a friend when a shot was fired towards them at close range from the front passenger window of a black VW Passat containing two males.

“The weapon used appears to have been a sawn-off shotgun. In the event, the front windscreen was damaged but they were unharmed.

“Mr Khan was able to drive away by ramming his vehicle out.”

Following the shooting, Mr Khan’s dad Amjad Khan took his £50,000 Audi RS3 Quattro and parked it at a relative’s house, which was in Sheffield and had a lot of security.

But in the early hours of October 31, several males pulled up to the house in a black BMW and the car was torched, along with a £20,000 VW Golf belonging to one of the relatives who lived in the house.

Mr Brooke continued: “The police investigation revealed that these were planned attacks, for which these defendants did a great deal to disguise or hide their whereabouts.

Leeds Combined Courts, Crown Court.

“For example, they met and stayed in various hotels, using false cards and false details to book and pay for those hotels.

“They used vehicles that bore unregistered or false number plates, swapped in and out of various vehicles and even went so far as to purchase a change of clothes for one individual after the shooting – all to conceal and hide evidence of what they were doing.”

Butt, 25, of Cross Flats Road in Beeston, Shabir, 25, of Old Mill View in Thornhill, Dewsbury, and Badar, 24, of Rowcliff Road in High Wycombe, deny one charge of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Butt, Shabir, Malik, 22, of Lynndale Avenue in Birkby, and Qayyum deny one charge of arson being reckless as to whether life is endangered.

Qayyum, 24, of Pickles Street in Batley, denies an additional charge of arson.

All five men deny a charge of affray.

The trial, which is expected to last five weeks, continues.