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A man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years for the killing of a teenage Syrian refugee after the boy brushed past his girlfriend in Huddersfield town centre.

Court Hears Details of Fatal Confrontation

The court in Leeds heard how the defendant, twenty, attacked with a knife the teenager, sixteen, not long after the boy passed the defendant's partner. He was found guilty of the killing on Thursday.

The teenager, who had fled conflict-ridden the city of Homs after being hurt in a bombing, had been staying in the West Yorkshire town for only a couple of weeks when he crossed paths with his attacker, who had been for a meeting at the job center that day and was planning to get eyelash glue with his girlfriend.

Details of the Incident

Leeds crown court heard that Franco – who had taken weed, a stimulant drug, diazepam, ketamine and a painkiller – took “some petty exception” to the teenager “harmlessly” walking past his girlfriend in the public space.

Surveillance tape displayed Franco saying something to Ahmad, and calling him over after a short verbal altercation. As the boy came closer, the attacker deployed the weapon on a switchblade he was concealing in his clothing and thrust it into the victim's neck.

Trial Outcome and Judgment

Franco refuted the murder charge, but was found guilty by a trial jury who considered the evidence for about three hours. He pleaded guilty to having a knife in a public place.

While sentencing the defendant on last Friday, the presiding judge said that upon observing the victim, the man “identified him as a target and lured him to within your proximity to assault before killing him”. He said the defendant's assertion to have seen a weapon in Ahmad’s waistband was “a lie”.

Crowson said of the victim that “it is evidence to the healthcare workers attempting to rescue him and his desire to survive he even made it to the hospital alive, but in fact his injuries were fatal”.

Family Impact and Message

Reciting a statement prepared by Ahmad’s uncle his uncle, with contributions from his mother and father, the legal representative told the judges that the victim's parent had suffered a heart attack upon hearing the news of his child's passing, causing him to require surgery.

“Words cannot capture the impact of their awful offense and the effect it had over the whole family,” the testimony stated. “The boy's mom still sobs over his belongings as they smell of him.”

The uncle, who said his nephew was as close as a child and he felt ashamed he could not shield him, went on to declare that the teenager had thought he had found “a safe haven and the realization of hopes” in England, but instead was “cruelly taken away by the senseless and unprovoked act”.

“As Ahmad’s uncle, I will always bear the shame that he had come to the UK, and I could not keep him safe,” he said in a message after the sentencing. “Our beloved boy we care for you, we miss you and we will feel this way eternally.”

Background of the Victim

The trial heard the teenager had travelled for three months to reach the UK from his home country, stopping in a shelter for young people in a city in Wales and attending college in the local college before arriving in his final destination. The young man had dreamed of becoming a doctor, driven in part by a desire to look after his mother, who had a chronic medical issue.