Sutton Coldfield hit and run murder: Witnesses tell of victim's last moments
Mr Bellerby said friends rushed to the aid of the injured men and one man was trying to revive Mr Ames, who was unconscious.
“They were lying there next to him, talking to him and trying to get him to come around,” he said. “But he was in a bad way. He’d been hit badly.”
He said Mr Ames’ mother arrived at the scene soon after the incident.
“There were a lot of people there,” he said.
“The girls were crying and screaming, and the guys were just in shock.”
The pair said they had been drinking at the pub earlier in the evening but had left to go to another pub because they sensed there could be trouble.
“We didn’t want to be there,” said Mr Webber, who lives in nearby Court Lane. “We just sort of knew that something was going on.
“We went somewhere else up the road and when we were walking home, this happened.
“It’s not usually that bad in the pub, but there have been problems in the past. The people who are running it are trying to turn it around, but this is going to be a big knock for them.”
The car was later found burned out in the Kingstanding area of Birmingham.
Last night no arrests had been made in connection with the incident.
Police have now launched a murder investigation and are hunting the driver of the car.
Detective Inspector Shaun Edwards, from West Midlands Police, said: “It looks like there has been disorder outside the pub.
“It was a busy pub. People were coming out of the pub just after one o’clock.
Murder
“So there were lots of people on the car park forecourt who would have been leaving to go home.”
A West Midlands Police spokesman later confirmed: “This is now being treated as a murder investigation.”
The pub used to be owned by BBC newsreader Ashley Blake, but he is understood to have sold it nearly six months ago.
The Sunday Mercury contacted the pub but no-one was available for comment.
David Harton, 59, who lives just yards from the pub on Chester Road, said he was shocked when he woke yesterday to find the road cordoned off.
“I thought there was something strange because I couldn’t hear anything going on outside – and it’s usually a busy road,” he said.
“I couldn’t believe it when I heard someone had been killed.
“It’s not usually a rough pub – there’s much rougher around here – and I had heard it was getting better.
“They have discos there for young people and quite a few people go but I didn’t expect something like this to happen.”
Officers cordoned off a large part of Chester Road following the attack and have appealed to the public for any information which can help lead to an arrest.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at Sutton Coldfield Police Station on 0845 113 5000 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
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