Life sentence for man who murdered Syrian refugee

A man who murdered a teenage Syrian refugee in a busy town centre street has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years.

Alfie Franco, 20, stabbed 16-year-old Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim with a flick knife after confronting him in Huddersfield on 3 April this year.

Franco had denied murder but was found guilty by a jury on Thursday, following a six-day trial at Leeds Crown Court.

Judge Howard Crowson told Franco, who showed no emotion throughout the sentencing hearing at the same court on Friday, that Ahmad's family had suffered "unimaginable" loss.

The trial had heard how Franco had been walking along Ramsden Street with his then-girlfriend when Ahmad, who was with a friend, walked past them.

The prosecution had said Ahmad "may have made a most minor contact" with Franco's girlfriend as he brushed past them, to which Franco "appeared to take some petty exception".

The 20-year-old pulled a flick knife from his pocket with his left hand while eating an ice cream with his right.

He then stabbed the victim, who had only moved to Huddersfield a fortnight previously to live with his uncle, around 40 seconds after the confrontation started, in full view of passers-by, including children.

Franco claimed he had acted in self-defence because he thought Ahmad had a knife and would attack him first.

But Judge Crowson told him that "this was not a mistake or a misconception by you - it was a lie".

He added: "During this trial you tried to portray him as the aggressor. But the CCTV showed he was no threat to you whatsoever.

The judge said that Ahmad "must have been terrified and in great pain" after being attacked and that was testament to both him and paramedics that he did not succumb to his injuries until he reached hospital.

Ahmad's uncle, who looked after Ahmad as his guardian when he moved to Huddersfield, described his nephew as a "sociable and ambitious personality" who had moved to the UK to fulfil his dream of becoming a doctor.

In a victim impact statement read on his behalf he said Ahmad "loved helping people and was "passionate about life, friends, travelling and getting to know places".

He added: "The impact of his loss shattered the entire family and tore the hearts of everyone who knew Ahmad, even for a single moment."

The court was told Ahmad's father, who still lives in Syria, suffered a heart attack and needed emergency surgery shortly after receiving news of his son's death.

The jury was shown pictures and videos from Franco's phone showing him smoking cannabis before the incident, and also of several knives which he had bought and had at home.

One showed him holding the weapons in his bedroom with the caption "artillery coming on nice".

When asked by defence barrister Gill Batts KC why he had taken the photos, he said they were to send to his friends on a group chat because he wanted to "look big".

Franco had previously admitted a charge of possessing a knife in a public place, for which he was given a concurrent prison sentence of 12 months.

Det Supt Damian Roebuck of West Yorkshire Police said: "We welcome the sentencing of Franco for the dreadful and inexplicable murder of a teenager he had never met and who he had no quarrel with.

"We never believed Franco's claim he acted in self-defence, especially as it was contradicted by CCTV evidence put before the court.

"Ahmad himself was not carrying a weapon of any kind whereas Franco had taken to the streets that day carrying the concealed blade he used to inflict a savage injury on this poor young man.

"No sentence can ever bring back Ahmad but we hope seeing Franco jailed for many years today will bring some measure of comfort to a family who continue to grieve for his loss."