A FATHER-of-four was stabbed to death after falling victim to a 'hate filled' feud between two families in Dudley, a court has heard.

Yasir Hussain died after being found with fatal stab wounds on Central Drive, Lower Gornal, on December 4 last year.

Mr Hussain, from Nelson in Lancashire, was said to be uninvolved in the feud, which had seen a number of incidents take place between the two families.

The 34-year-old was ambushed by a group of men, brandishing knives, machetes and metal bars, after the Fiesta he was sitting in with his cousin, Morrad Hussain, was rammed from behind by a transit van and pushed into the Golden City Chinese takeaway on the residential Lower Gornal street.

Morrad managed to escape down an alley, before Yasir was attacked with knives and a machete, the jury at Birmingham Crown Court heard.

Nabeel Choudhary, aged 21, and Arkash Tasleem, aged 24, stand accused of murdering the 34-year-old.

The violent ambush in December followed a series of 'tit for tat incidents' between the warring families, the jury heard.

Opening the prosecution case, James Curtis QC, said: "This case is about a violent feud between two families in the Dudley area which ended up with one side trying to run one of the other side over.

“Then a few days later attempted attacking and killing another member of the other side at the end of last year."

"Morrad Husain was the intended target but he wasn't the one that was killed. Also in the car was his cousin, Yasir Hussain, who was not involved in the feud. Tragically, he was the one who was killed."

The court heard how days before the incident, Morrad Hussain’s brother-in-law, Mohammed Waseem, was the victim of a hit-and-run attack on Shaw Road in Dudley on November 26.

The prosecution alleged it was Choudhary who deliberately drove at the man in a Seat, causing him multiple injuries.

With tensions running high, Morrad Hussain, who was a delivery driver for Golden City, asked his cousin, Yasir Hussain, to accompany him on deliveries on December 4.

While parked outside the takeaway, a group of seven men spilled out a van after it rammed into the back of Morrad Hussain’s delivery car.

Mr Curtis said that Morrad had since identified two of the men who exited the front van door as Choudhary and Tasleem, the former allegedly brandishing a firearm and Tasleem carrying a machete.

Yasir Hussain was said to be unarmed, alone and unprotected when he was attacked. He suffered three stab wounds to his back, one believed to have been caused by a machete.

Curtis said: "The cradle of this case is that the flames were still burning on both sides in late 2018. They were showing every sign of burning out of control.”

He added: "There was clearly a belief on each side that they would be victimised in a vendetta or a blood feud."

Tasleem, of Broadway West, Walsall, and Choudhary, of Hope Street, West Bromwich, both deny murdering Yasir Hussain.

Tasleem also pleads not guilty to possessing a machete and Choudary denies attempting grievous bodily harm and dangerous driving for the events of November 26 . He also denies possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause violent disorder.

The trial continues.