Person Sentenced for Minimum 23 Years for Murdering Syrian Boy in Huddersfield
A individual has been sentenced to life with a minimum period of 23 years for the killing of a young Syrian refugee after the victim walked by his girlfriend in downtown Huddersfield.
Court Learns Details of Fatal Confrontation
Leeds crown court heard how the defendant, 20, stabbed the teenager, aged 16, soon after the boy walked by Franco’s girlfriend. He was declared guilty of the killing on last Thursday.
Ahmad, who had fled battle-scarred the city of Homs after being wounded in a bombing, had been living in the West Yorkshire town for only a short period when he met Franco, who had been for a meeting at the job center that day and was going to buy cosmetic adhesive with his girlfriend.
Details of the Attack
The trial heard that Franco – who had taken marijuana, a stimulant drug, a prescription medication, ketamine and codeine – took “a trivial issue” to the teenager “innocuously” walking past his girlfriend in the street.
Security camera video displayed the man making a remark to the teenager, and calling him over after a short verbal altercation. As the boy came closer, the attacker deployed the weapon on a flick knife he was carrying in his pants and plunged it into the victim's neck.
Trial Outcome and Judgment
Franco denied murder, but was convicted by a panel of jurors who deliberated for just over three hours. He confessed to carrying a blade in a public space.
While sentencing the defendant on the fifth day of the week, the court judge said that upon spotting the teenager, the man “marked him as a victim and enticed him to within your range to assault before killing him”. He said Franco’s claim to have spotted a blade in the victim's belt was “false”.
The judge said of the victim that “it is evidence to the medical personnel trying to save his life and his desire to survive he even arrived at the hospital breathing, but in fact his injuries were fatal”.
Family Impact and Statement
Reading out a declaration drafted by Ahmad’s uncle his uncle, with contributions from his mother and father, the prosecutor told the trial that the teenager’s father had had a heart episode upon hearing the news of his boy's killing, necessitating medical intervention.
“Words cannot capture the effect of their terrible act and the effect it had over all involved,” the message read. “His mother still cries over his clothes as they remind her of him.”
He, who said his nephew was as close as a child and he felt remorseful he could not keep him safe, went on to state that the victim had thought he had found “a safe haven and the fulfilment of dreams” in Britain, but instead was “brutally snatched by the unnecessary and sudden attack”.
“As Ahmad’s uncle, I will always feel responsible that he had come to the UK, and I could not ensure his safety,” he said in a message after the judgment. “Dear Ahmad we love you, we long for you and we will continue always.”
Background of the Teenager
The proceedings learned the teenager had journeyed for three months to get to England from his home country, stopping in a shelter for teenagers in the Welsh city and studying in the Welsh city before arriving in his final destination. The young man had hoped to work as a medical professional, motivated partly by a hope to care for his mom, who suffered from a long-term health problem.
