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A man has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 23 years for the murder of a teenage Syrian refugee after the victim passed his companion in the center of Huddersfield.

Trial Hears Details of Fatal Confrontation

A Leeds courtroom learned how the defendant, aged 20, attacked with a knife the victim, aged 16, shortly after the boy brushed past his companion. He was convicted of homicide on the fourth day of the week.

The teenager, who had left war-torn Homs after being injured in a blast, had been residing in the Huddersfield area for only a couple of weeks when he encountered Franco, who had been for a meeting at the job center that day and was intending to purchase eyelash glue with his partner.

Particulars of the Assault

The trial heard that the accused – who had used marijuana, cocaine, a prescription medication, an anesthetic and codeine – took “a minor offense” to Ahmad “harmlessly” passing by his girlfriend in the public space.

Security camera video displayed Franco uttering words to the victim, and summoning him after a short verbal altercation. As the youth came closer, Franco opened the blade on a switchblade he was concealing in his trousers and plunged it into the victim's neck.

Trial Outcome and Sentencing

The accused refuted the murder charge, but was judged guilty by a jury who took a little more than three hours to decide. He admitted guilt to carrying a blade in a public area.

While sentencing the defendant on last Friday, the court judge said that upon observing the victim, the defendant “identified him as a target and drew him to within your proximity to strike before ending his life”. He said the defendant's assertion to have seen a weapon in the victim's belt was “a lie”.

Crowson said of Ahmad that “it stands as proof to the medical personnel trying to save his life and his determination to live he even made it to the hospital alive, but in truth his injuries were unsurvivable”.

Family Impact and Message

Reciting a declaration written by the victim's uncle his uncle, with input from his parents, the prosecutor told the trial that the victim's parent had experienced cardiac arrest upon learning of the incident of his boy's killing, causing him to require surgery.

“Words cannot capture the effect of their heinous crime and the impact it had over everyone,” the testimony stated. “The boy's mom still sobs over his belongings as they remind her of him.”

The uncle, who said his nephew was as close as a child and he felt remorseful he could not shield him, went on to declare that the victim had thought he had found “a peaceful country and the fulfilment of dreams” in the UK, but instead was “brutally snatched by the unnecessary and sudden attack”.

“In my role as his uncle, I will always feel responsible that the boy had come to the UK, and I could not protect him,” he said in a declaration after the judgment. “Our beloved boy we love you, we miss you and we will feel this way eternally.”

History of the Victim

The proceedings was told Ahmad had travelled for three months to arrive in Britain from Syria, visiting a refugee centre for young people in a city in Wales and studying in the Welsh city before arriving in Huddersfield. The teenager had hoped to work as a physician, motivated partly by a hope to look after his mother, who suffered from a long-term health problem.