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A man has been given a life sentence with a minimum period of 23 years for the homicide of a teenage Syrian refugee after the teenager walked by his partner in Huddersfield town centre.

Trial Learns Details of Fatal Altercation

Leeds crown court was told how the defendant, twenty, stabbed Ahmad Al Ibrahim, sixteen, soon after the young man passed the defendant's partner. He was convicted of homicide on Thursday.

The victim, who had escaped war-torn Homs after being wounded in a bombing, had been living in the Huddersfield area for only a couple of weeks when he met his attacker, who had been for a employment office visit that day and was planning to get cosmetic adhesive with his girlfriend.

Details of the Assault

The trial learned that the defendant – who had used weed, a stimulant drug, diazepam, an anesthetic and codeine – took “a trivial issue” to the teenager “harmlessly” going past his girlfriend in the public space.

Security camera video displayed the man making a remark to Ahmad, and summoning him after a short verbal altercation. As the boy came closer, the attacker deployed the weapon on a flick knife he was carrying in his trousers and drove it into the teenager's throat.

Trial Outcome and Sentencing

The accused refuted the murder charge, but was found guilty by a panel of jurors who considered the evidence for about three hours. He pleaded guilty to having a knife in a public space.

While sentencing the defendant on the fifth day of the week, the presiding judge said that upon observing the victim, the man “singled him out and lured him to within your range to assault before ending his life”. He said Franco’s claim to have spotted a blade in Ahmad’s waistband was “untrue”.

He said of the teenager that “it stands as proof to the doctors and nurses attempting to rescue him and his determination to live he even arrived at the hospital breathing, but in truth his injuries were fatal”.

Relatives Reaction and Message

Reading out a declaration drafted by the victim's uncle Ghazwan Al Ibrahim, with contributions from his mother and father, Richard Wright KC told the trial that the victim's parent had suffered a heart attack upon hearing the news of his son’s death, leading to an operation.

“I am unable to describe the consequence of their awful offense and the impact it had over the whole family,” the testimony said. “The victim's mother still sobs over his belongings as they remind her of him.”

He, who said his nephew was like a son and he felt guilty he could not shield him, went on to declare that Ahmad had thought he had found “a peaceful country and the fulfilment of dreams” in England, but instead was “brutally snatched by the senseless and unprovoked act”.

“In my role as his uncle, I will always bear the shame that Ahmad had arrived in Britain, and I could not ensure his safety,” he said in a message after the sentencing. “Ahmad we love you, we long for you and we will continue always.”

Background of the Victim

The court heard the victim had journeyed for three months to get to England from his home country, stopping in a refugee centre for young people in Swansea and studying in the Welsh city before arriving in West Yorkshire. The boy had dreamed of becoming a physician, motivated partly by a desire to support his parent, who had a long-term health problem.