Person Jailed for At Least 23 Years for Killing Syrian-born Teenager in West Yorkshire Town

A man has been jailed for life with a minimum period of 23 years for the killing of a young Syrian refugee after the teenager walked by his companion in Huddersfield town centre.

Court Learns Particulars of Fatal Confrontation

Leeds crown court learned how the defendant, 20, stabbed the victim, aged 16, soon after the young man passed the defendant's partner. He was found guilty of homicide on the fourth day of the week.

Ahmad, who had fled battle-scarred Homs after being wounded in a explosion, had been living in the local community for only a couple of weeks when he crossed paths with the defendant, who had been for a meeting at the job center that day and was going to buy cosmetic adhesive with his partner.

Particulars of the Assault

The court heard that the accused – who had used weed, a stimulant drug, diazepam, ketamine and a painkiller – took “a trivial issue” to the teenager “innocuously” passing by his companion in the public space.

Surveillance tape showed the defendant making a remark to the teenager, and gesturing him closer after a quick argument. As Ahmad came closer, Franco deployed the weapon on a folding knife he was carrying in his pants and thrust it into the teenager's throat.

Trial Outcome and Sentencing

The defendant refuted the murder charge, but was found guilty by a panel of jurors who deliberated for just over three hours. He pleaded guilty to possessing a knife in a public space.

While delivering the judgment on Friday, the presiding judge said that upon seeing Ahmad, the defendant “singled him out and enticed him to within your proximity to strike before taking his life”. He said his statement to have seen a weapon in Ahmad’s waistband was “false”.

The judge said of the teenager that “it stands as proof to the doctors and nurses working to keep him alive and his will to live he even arrived at the hospital breathing, but in truth his injuries were fatal”.

Family Reaction and Message

Presenting a statement written by Ahmad’s uncle the family member, with input from his parents, the prosecutor told the court that the boy's dad had experienced cardiac arrest upon learning of the incident of his boy's killing, causing him to require surgery.

“It is hard to express the impact of their awful offense and the influence it had over everyone,” the statement said. “The boy's mom still cries over his clothes as they smell of him.”

The uncle, who said the boy was as close as a child and he felt guilty he could not protect him, went on to declare that Ahmad had thought he had found “a peaceful country and the achievement of aspirations” in England, but instead was “tragically removed by the unnecessary and sudden attack”.

“As Ahmad’s uncle, I will always carry the guilt that the boy had come to the UK, and I could not keep him safe,” he said in a message after the sentencing. “Our beloved boy we love you, we yearn for you and we will feel this way eternally.”

History of the Teenager

The trial heard the teenager had made his way for 90 days to get to England from his home country, visiting a asylum seeker facility for young people in the Welsh city and studying in the Swansea area before relocating to Huddersfield. The young man had hoped to work as a doctor, motivated partly by a hope to care for his mom, who suffered from a chronic medical issue.