Pictures released of murder accused

PICTURES have been released this week of the man accused of murdering Shane Sweet on a Plymouth street last year.

- By CARL EVE

They were issued as the jury in the ongoing trial of 20-year-old Tahla Redwan were told to expect the defendant to appear in the witness box this week.

The jury of eight women and four men at Plymouth Crown Court, sitting in the trial of Tahla Redwan, have heard evidence from prosecutors, who claim that he murdered 36-year-old father-of-two Shane Sweet on November 4 last year.

Redwan, from Hackney in London, has denied the charge of murder and had claimed that he was defending himself.

He has accepted he had carried the knife used on Mr Sweet to Cambridge Road, which the jury have been told was where he was sent to sell class A drugs. At that location he met with Mr Sweet and another male, Ben Davis, but an altercation took place and Mr Sweet, of Newcastle Gardens, Whitleigh, suffered two fatal stab wounds to his chest.

The jury heard Redwan had been in Plymouth for a period of time in late 2024, during which he was arranging to sell drug to local users.

Prosecutor Jane Osborne KC told the jury Redwan was using a mobile phone line which went by the name of “Ace” and “Marco” which was sending “bulk texts” to prospective Plymouth buyers, alerting them to the sale of drugs.

As part of the case against Redwan, the jury has been shown CCTV and doorbell footage taken from a number of locations around the city.

This included footage taken in Cambridge Road, which captured the moment when Mr Sweet, having suffered two stab wounds to his heart, is seen walking unsteadily back towards the camera in the middle of the road, with Mr Davis beside him.