🔗 Share this article

A man has been jailed for life with a minimum period of 23 years for the homicide of a young Syrian asylum seeker after the victim brushed past his girlfriend in downtown Huddersfield.

Court Hears Particulars of Fatal Altercation

The court in Leeds learned how the defendant, twenty, attacked with a knife Ahmad Al Ibrahim, aged 16, soon after the boy passed his companion. He was found guilty of the killing on the fourth day of the week.

Ahmad, who had left conflict-ridden Homs after being injured in a blast, had been living in the local community for only a short period when he met Franco, who had been for a employment office visit that day and was planning to get eyelash glue with his female companion.

Details of the Attack

Leeds crown court was informed that the defendant – who had consumed marijuana, cocaine, a prescription medication, an anesthetic and codeine – took “some petty exception” to Ahmad “innocuously” passing by his companion in the street.

Surveillance tape showed Franco uttering words to the teenager, and gesturing him closer after a brief exchange. As Ahmad came closer, the attacker opened the blade on a folding knife he was holding in his trousers and drove it into the victim's neck.

Verdict and Sentencing

Franco refuted the murder charge, but was judged guilty by a panel of jurors who considered the evidence for about three hours. He admitted guilt to carrying a blade in a public space.

While sentencing the defendant on last Friday, judge Howard Crowson said that upon observing the victim, the man “identified him as a target and lured him to within your proximity to assault before taking his life”. He said his statement to have noticed a knife in Ahmad’s waistband was “untrue”.

The judge said of Ahmad that “it stands as proof to the doctors and nurses attempting to rescue him and his determination to live he even arrived at the hospital breathing, but in fact his wounds were fatal”.

Family Reaction and Message

Presenting a declaration prepared by his relative his uncle, with help from his family, the legal representative told the court that the victim's parent had suffered a heart attack upon learning of the incident of his boy's killing, necessitating medical intervention.

“Words cannot capture the effect of their terrible act and the influence it had over the whole family,” the statement stated. “The victim's mother still weeps over his clothes as they remind her of him.”

He, who said his nephew was like a son and he felt ashamed he could not shield him, went on to state that the teenager had thought he had found “a peaceful country and the fulfilment of dreams” in Britain, but instead was “cruelly taken away by the pointless and random violence”.

“In my role as his uncle, I will always carry the guilt that Ahmad had traveled to England, and I could not ensure his safety,” he said in a statement after the verdict. “Dear Ahmad we love you, we miss you and we will continue always.”

Background of the Teenager

The proceedings learned the teenager had journeyed for a quarter of a year to arrive in Britain from the Middle East, visiting a shelter for young people in a city in Wales and attending college in the local college before relocating to his final destination. The young man had hoped to work as a medical professional, driven in part by a desire to support his parent, who had a long-term health problem.