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A man has been given a life sentence with a lowest sentence of 23 years for the killing of a teenage Syrian asylum seeker after the victim brushed past his partner in Huddersfield town centre.

Trial Learns Details of Fatal Altercation

Leeds crown court was told how the defendant, twenty, knifed Ahmad Al Ibrahim, aged 16, shortly after the young man walked by his companion. He was declared guilty of murder on Thursday.

The teenager, who had escaped battle-scarred Homs after being hurt in a bombing, had been living in the Huddersfield area for only a couple of weeks when he met the defendant, who had been for a employment office visit that day and was intending to purchase beauty product with his partner.

Particulars of the Attack

Leeds crown court learned that the defendant – who had used marijuana, cocaine, a prescription medication, ketamine and codeine – took “a trivial issue” to the boy “innocuously” going past his girlfriend in the road.

Security camera video showed Franco uttering words to the victim, and summoning him after a brief exchange. As the boy came closer, Franco opened the blade on a switchblade he was carrying in his trousers and drove it into the teenager's throat.

Trial Outcome and Sentencing

Franco denied murder, but was found guilty by a trial jury who considered the evidence for about three hours. He admitted guilt to carrying a blade in a public place.

While sentencing the defendant on Friday, judge Howard Crowson said that upon observing the victim, the man “identified him as a target and drew him to within your range to attack before ending his life”. He said Franco’s claim to have spotted a blade in the victim's belt was “untrue”.

The judge said of the teenager that “it is evidence to the doctors and nurses attempting to rescue him and his desire to survive he even arrived at the hospital breathing, but in reality his trauma were unsurvivable”.

Relatives Reaction and Statement

Reading out a message prepared by Ahmad’s uncle his uncle, with contributions from his mother and father, Richard Wright KC told the court that the victim's parent had experienced cardiac arrest upon hearing the news of his boy's killing, necessitating medical intervention.

“Words cannot capture the effect of their heinous crime and the effect it had over all involved,” the statement stated. “His mother still cries over his belongings as they carry his scent.”

The uncle, who said his nephew was as close as a child and he felt guilty he could not shield him, went on to state that Ahmad had thought he had found “a peaceful country and the realization of hopes” in England, but instead was “brutally snatched by the senseless and unprovoked act”.

“As Ahmad’s uncle, I will always carry the guilt that he had traveled to England, and I could not ensure his safety,” he said in a declaration after the judgment. “Dear Ahmad we adore you, we yearn for you and we will do for ever.”

History of the Victim

The proceedings learned Ahmad had made his way for 90 days to get to England from the Middle East, visiting a asylum seeker facility for youths in a city in Wales and going to school in the Swansea area before moving to his final destination. The teenager had aspired to be a medical professional, driven in part by a desire to look after his mother, who suffered from a long-term health problem.