Three men who died after they were deliberately run into by a car during last summer's riots were murdered in a modern-day "chariot charge" after days of simmering tensions, a court heard on Thursday.
Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court heard that Haroon Jahan, 20, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, were hit by a Mazda car during disorder in the Winson Green area of Birmingham in the early hours of August 10, as disorder swept across England.
Loud gasps were heard in the court as CCTV footage of the fatal impact was shown, and the victims' family members sobbed in the public gallery.
The images clearly show the three men being flung into the air after being hit by the car. They were pronounced dead in hospital.
Prosecutor Tim Spencer QC, who warned the jury about the "shocking circumstances", said: "The driving you have just seen was not chance, it was not accidental.
"It was deliberate and co-ordinated. It was the modern-day equivalent of a chariot charge. And it was deadly."
Moments after the footage was shown, a heated argument broke out in the public gallery, leading the judge, Mr Justice Flaux, to clear the court for a short time.
Ryan Goodwin, 21, Shaun Flynn, 26, Juan Ruiz-Gaviria, 31, Joshua Donald, 27, Everton Graham, 30, Adam King, 24, Ian Beckford, 30, and Aaron Parkins, 18, all deny three counts of murder.
Jurors heard that on the evenings of August 8 and 9 local businesses, including mobile phone shops, a petrol station and a social club, were targeted by rioters.
Spencer said the fatal collision followed days of growing tension in the area between gangs of youths in cars and crowds of mostly Asian men from the community.
He said: "All of the men in the dock must have been aware of that backdrop, the backdrop that was the reality of this area of Birmingham over the period we are concerned with."
Spencer told the court that some of a group of between 50 and 100 Asian men on the streets were armed with sticks, batons and bats, and that other members of the Asian group had picked up bricks or rocks after beginning to gather at around 9.30pm on August 9 to prevent looters from targeting local businesses.
Spencer told the court the defendants were in three separate black cars: a Ford Fiesta, a Mazda and an Audi A3 Sport Quattro.
He said one witness described seeing a man shouting from a window of the Mazda: "Pakis, Pakis, we're coming back for you."
He said the three cars convened in Dugdale Street, close to the scene of the collision in Dudley Road, moments before to "finalise the plan".
The prosecutor said: "It was an opportunity to finalise the plan. It was an opportunity for those who did not want to go back and 'get the Pakis' to leave.
"Here, in Dugdale Street, was an opportunity to say: 'I want nothing of what is about to happen, let me out of this car'.
"But that is not what happened. All those eight men stayed in one or other of those three cars as they progressed down Dugdale Street and carried out their deadly task."
The Audi can be seen in the CCTV footage swerving as it travels along the road, while the other two vehicles hold back.
Moments later an arm is extended from the driver's side of the Mazda car.
The prosecutor asked the jury: "Did you see the arm? It is a signal. A signal to those in the Fiesta, particularly the driver, to go."
Spencer told the court that the Audi was driven by King. Goodwin, Flynn and Ruiz-Gaviria were passengers in the car, he said.
The prosecutor said the Fiesta was driven by Donald, with Parkins as a passenger, and the Mazda was driven by Beckford, with Graham seated in the front passenger seat.
During his opening speech, Spencer said "perfectly legitimate questions" could be asked about whether the conduct of some members of the Asian group was lawful.
He added: "We do suggest that there was a genuine desire amongst many, if not all of them, to protect their businesses and livelihoods.
"They lived in the area. They depended upon the businesses in the area to survive.
"The prosecution are here to put before you what we say was murderous conduct.
"The prosecution say that the driving at the heart of this case, the driving which culminated in three deaths, was out of all sensible proportion to anything that had gone on before.
"That driving was murder and nothing less."
Goodwin, of Cranford Street, Smethwick; Ruiz-Gaviria, of Coplow Street, Ladywood, Birmingham; Donald, of Kelsall Croft, Ladywood; Beckford, of Quinton, Birmingham; and Graham, King and Flynn, all of no fixed address; were remanded in custody.
Aaron Parkins, whose address was withheld, was bailed to return to the court tomorrow morning.
The trial, which is expected to last up to 10 weeks, was adjourned until tomorrow.
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