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A man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years for the killing of a young Syrian asylum seeker after the victim walked by his partner in downtown Huddersfield.

Court Hears Details of Deadly Altercation

A Leeds courtroom learned how Alfie Franco, twenty, attacked with a knife Ahmad Al Ibrahim, sixteen, soon after the teenager passed Franco’s girlfriend. He was convicted of murder on Thursday.

Ahmad, who had fled war-torn the city of Homs after being injured in a blast, had been living in the Huddersfield area for only a couple of weeks when he met his attacker, who had been for a meeting at the job center that day and was planning to get beauty product with his girlfriend.

Details of the Incident

Leeds crown court heard that the defendant – who had taken marijuana, cocaine, a prescription medication, an anesthetic and a painkiller – took “a minor offense” to the teenager “innocuously” passing by his companion in the road.

CCTV footage displayed Franco uttering words to the victim, and calling him over after a brief exchange. As the youth walked over, the individual opened the blade on a flick knife he was concealing in his clothing and thrust it into the teenager's throat.

Verdict and Sentencing

The defendant refuted the murder charge, but was judged guilty by a trial jury who deliberated for just over three hours. He confessed to possessing a knife in a public place.

While handing Franco his sentence on last Friday, the court judge said that upon observing the victim, the defendant “singled him out and drew him to within your reach to strike before taking his life”. He said the defendant's assertion to have seen a weapon in the boy's clothing was “a lie”.

The judge said of Ahmad that “it stands as proof to the healthcare workers attempting to rescue him and his determination to live he even arrived at the hospital breathing, but in reality his injuries were lethal”.

Family Reaction and Statement

Reading out a message drafted by the victim's uncle his uncle, with contributions from his mother and father, the legal representative told the court that the victim's parent had suffered a heart attack upon being informed of his boy's killing, necessitating medical intervention.

“I am unable to describe the effect of their heinous crime and the effect it had over all involved,” the testimony stated. “His mother still sobs over his clothes as they remind her of him.”

Ghazwan, who said the boy was as close as a child and he felt ashamed he could not shield him, went on to state that the victim had thought he had found “the land of peace and the realization of hopes” in England, but instead was “cruelly taken away by the unnecessary and sudden attack”.

“As Ahmad’s uncle, I will always carry the guilt that Ahmad had come to the UK, and I could not keep him safe,” he said in a statement after the verdict. “Dear Ahmad we love you, we yearn for you and we will continue always.”

History of the Teenager

The proceedings was told Ahmad had made his way for three months to get to England from Syria, staying at a shelter for young people in a city in Wales and studying in the Welsh city before moving to his final destination. The teenager had hoped to work as a medical professional, inspired partially by a wish to care for his mom, who was affected by a persistent condition.