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A man has been given a life sentence with a lowest sentence of 23 years for the homicide of a teenage Syrian asylum seeker after the teenager passed his partner in the center of Huddersfield.

Trial Hears Details of Deadly Altercation

Leeds crown court was told how Alfie Franco, 20, knifed Ahmad Al Ibrahim, aged 16, soon after the young man walked by Franco’s girlfriend. He was declared guilty of homicide on the fourth day of the week.

Ahmad, who had escaped war-torn his Syrian hometown after being wounded in a blast, had been staying in the West Yorkshire town for only a couple of weeks when he encountered the defendant, who had been for a jobcentre appointment that day and was going to buy cosmetic adhesive with his girlfriend.

Details of the Attack

The trial was informed that the defendant – who had used cannabis, a stimulant drug, diazepam, an anesthetic and a painkiller – took “some petty exception” to the teenager “innocuously” passing by his companion in the road.

CCTV footage displayed the man making a remark to Ahmad, and calling him over after a quick argument. As Ahmad walked over, the attacker deployed the weapon on a folding knife he was concealing in his trousers and plunged it into the boy’s neck.

Verdict and Sentencing

The accused pleaded not guilty to murder, but was convicted by a jury who deliberated for just over three hours. He admitted guilt to possessing a knife in a public place.

While handing Franco his sentence on the fifth day of the week, the court judge said that upon spotting the teenager, Franco “marked him as a victim and drew him to within your range to strike before taking his life”. He said his statement to have spotted a blade in the victim's belt was “false”.

The judge said of the teenager that “it is evidence to the healthcare workers attempting to rescue him and his determination to live he even made it to the hospital alive, but in truth his trauma were lethal”.

Family Reaction and Message

Reciting a message written by Ahmad’s uncle Ghazwan Al Ibrahim, with help from his family, Richard Wright KC told the court that the boy's dad had suffered a heart attack upon hearing the news of his boy's killing, leading to an operation.

“Words cannot capture the impact of their heinous crime and the influence it had over all involved,” the statement read. “The victim's mother still cries over his clothes as they remind her of him.”

He, who said Ahmad was like a son and he felt remorseful he could not keep him safe, went on to explain that Ahmad had thought he had found “a peaceful country and the achievement of aspirations” in the UK, but instead was “cruelly taken away by the pointless and random violence”.

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

History of the Victim

The proceedings heard the teenager had journeyed for 90 days to get to England from his home country, stopping in a shelter for youths in a city in Wales and going to school in the Swansea area before arriving in Huddersfield. The teenager had dreamed of becoming a medical professional, driven in part by a wish to look after his mother, who was affected by a long-term health problem.