Man jailed for murdering Syrian teenager in Huddersfield street | Huddersfield
A man who killed a young Syrian refugee as he walked past his girlfriend in Huddersfield city center has been jailed for at least 23 years.
Leeds crown court heard how Alfie Franco, 20, stabbed Ahmad Al Ibrahim, 16, shortly after Ibrahim walked past Franco’s girlfriend in April. He was found guilty of murder on Thursday.
Ahmed, who fled war-torn Homs after being injured in a bombing, had been living in the West Yorkshire town for only a few weeks when he crossed paths with Franco, who had arrived for a business center appointment and was on his way to buy eyelash glue with his girlfriend.
Leeds Crown Court heard Franco, who consumed cannabis, cocaine, diazepam, ketamine and codeine, took “some minor exceptions” to Ahmed, who passed his girlfriend “harmlessly” on the street.
CCTV footage shows Franco saying something to Ahmed and calling him out after a brief verbal argument. As Ahmed approached, Franco opened the blade of the knife he was carrying in his trousers and stabbed the child in the neck.
Franco denied murder but was found guilty by a jury after deliberating for just over three hours. He pleaded guilty to possessing a knife in a public place.
Judge Howard Crowson, in sentencing Franco on Friday, said that after Franco saw Ahmed, “he identified him as a target and lured him into your range to attack before killing him.” He said that Franco’s claim that he saw a gun on Ahmed’s waist was a “lie”.
“This is a testament to the will to live of the medical staff who tried to save his life and even managed to get to the hospital alive, but in reality his injuries were beyond repair,” Crowson said of Ahmad.
Reading a statement prepared by Ahmed’s uncle, Ghazwan Al Ibrahim, with input from his parents, Richard Wright KC told the court that the teenager’s father had a heart attack when he heard the news of his son’s death and therefore had to undergo surgery.
“I cannot express the impact of their heinous crime and the impact it had on everyone,” the statement said. “His mother still cries because of his smelly clothes.”
Saying that Ahmed was like a child to him and that he was ashamed for not being able to protect him, Ghazwan stated that he thought Ahmed found “a country of peace and dreams come true” in England, but instead he was “cruelly taken away with a meaningless and unprovoked act” in April.
In his statement after the sentencing, he said: “As Ahmed’s uncle, I will always carry the guilt of Ahmed coming to England and not being able to keep him safe.” “Ahmet, we love you, we miss you and we will continue this forever.”
The court heard Ahmed traveled for three months to reach England from Syria, staying at a refugee center for young people in Swansea and attending university in the Welsh city before arriving in Huddersfield.
The teenager aspired to become a doctor partly out of a desire to care for his mother, who suffered from a chronic medical condition.
