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A person has been given a life sentence with a lowest sentence of 23 years for the murder of a young Syrian asylum seeker after the teenager walked by his partner in Huddersfield town centre.

Court Hears Particulars of Deadly Altercation

Leeds crown court learned how the defendant, 20, attacked with a knife the teenager, aged 16, shortly after the teenager passed his companion. He was convicted of murder on the fourth day of the week.

The victim, who had fled conflict-ridden his Syrian hometown after being wounded in a blast, had been residing in the local community for only a couple of weeks when he met Franco, who had been for a meeting at the job center that day and was going to buy beauty product with his partner.

Particulars of the Incident

The court learned that the accused – who had used cannabis, cocaine, a prescription medication, ketamine and codeine – took “some petty exception” to the teenager “harmlessly” passing by his girlfriend in the street.

CCTV footage revealed the defendant uttering words to the teenager, and gesturing him closer after a short verbal altercation. As the youth walked over, the individual opened the blade on a folding knife he was carrying in his pants and thrust it into the victim's neck.

Verdict and Sentencing

The defendant denied murder, but was judged guilty by a jury who deliberated for just over three hours. He pleaded guilty to having a knife in a public place.

While sentencing the defendant on last Friday, judge Howard Crowson said that upon spotting the teenager, the man “identified him as a target and drew him to within your range to assault before taking his life”. He said his statement to have noticed a knife in Ahmad’s waistband was “untrue”.

The judge said of the teenager that “it stands as proof to the healthcare workers trying to save his life and his determination to live he even reached the hospital with signs of life, but in reality his wounds were lethal”.

Relatives Impact and Statement

Presenting a statement drafted by his relative the family member, with input from his parents, Richard Wright KC told the trial that the teenager’s father had had a heart episode upon learning of the incident of his child's passing, causing him to require surgery.

“It is hard to express the impact of their awful offense and the effect it had over all involved,” the message read. “His mother still cries over his garments as they remind her of him.”

Ghazwan, who said Ahmad was dear to him and he felt remorseful he could not keep him safe, went on to declare that the victim had thought he had found “the land of peace and the achievement of aspirations” in the UK, but instead was “cruelly taken away by the unnecessary and sudden attack”.

“As Ahmad’s uncle, I will always feel responsible that the boy had traveled to England, and I could not protect him,” he said in a statement after the judgment. “Ahmad we care for you, we yearn for you and we will do for ever.”

History of the Teenager

The proceedings learned the victim had travelled for a quarter of a year to get to England from his home country, stopping in a asylum seeker facility for teenagers in Swansea and going to school in the local college before arriving in West Yorkshire. The teenager had hoped to work as a doctor, driven in part by a desire to care for his mom, who suffered from a persistent condition.