🔗 Share this article

A individual has been jailed for life with a lowest sentence of 23 years for the homicide of a teenage Syrian asylum seeker after the boy brushed past his companion in Huddersfield town centre.

Trial Hears Details of Deadly Altercation

The court in Leeds heard how the accused, twenty, attacked with a knife the victim, aged 16, soon after the young man brushed past Franco’s girlfriend. He was found guilty of homicide on the fourth day of the week.

The teenager, who had fled conflict-ridden his Syrian hometown after being hurt in a blast, had been living in the local community for only a short period when he encountered his attacker, who had been for a meeting at the job center that day and was planning to get eyelash glue with his female companion.

Particulars of the Attack

The court heard that Franco – who had used weed, cocaine, diazepam, an anesthetic and a painkiller – took “a minor offense” to the boy “innocuously” going past his companion in the road.

Security camera video revealed the man saying something to the teenager, and calling him over after a quick argument. As Ahmad came closer, the attacker unfolded the knife on a switchblade he was carrying in his trousers and drove it into the victim's neck.

Verdict and Judgment

Franco pleaded not guilty to murder, but was convicted by a trial jury who took a little more than three hours to decide. He admitted guilt to having a knife in a public space.

While handing Franco his sentence on last Friday, the presiding judge said that upon seeing Ahmad, the defendant “singled him out and lured him to within your reach to attack before taking his life”. He said the defendant's assertion to have spotted a blade in the boy's clothing was “a lie”.

Crowson said of the teenager that “it stands as proof to the medical personnel working to keep him alive and his desire to survive he even reached the hospital with signs of life, but in truth his injuries were fatal”.

Relatives Impact and Message

Reciting a declaration written by Ahmad’s uncle Ghazwan Al Ibrahim, with contributions from his mother and father, the prosecutor told the court that the teenager’s father had had a heart episode upon learning of the incident of his child's passing, leading to an operation.

“Words cannot capture the consequence of their heinous crime and the influence it had over all involved,” the testimony said. “The victim's mother still sobs over his garments as they smell of him.”

The uncle, who said the boy was dear to him and he felt ashamed he could not keep him safe, went on to state that the teenager had thought he had found “a peaceful country and the achievement of aspirations” in Britain, but instead was “cruelly taken away by the senseless and unprovoked act”.

“In my role as his uncle, I will always bear the shame that the boy had arrived in Britain, and I could not ensure his safety,” he said in a message after the verdict. “Dear Ahmad we adore you, we miss you and we will continue always.”

History of the Teenager

The trial heard the teenager had journeyed for a quarter of a year to reach the UK from his home country, stopping in a shelter for youths in Swansea and going to school in the local college before relocating to West Yorkshire. The teenager had aspired to be a medical professional, motivated partly by a wish to support his parent, who suffered from a long-term health problem.