Man who murdered 16-year-old Syrian refugee after teen brushed past his girlfriend jailed
A man who stabbed a 16-year-old Syrian refugee in the neck after he brushed past his girlfriend has been jailed for life with a minimum of 23 years.
Alfie Franco, 20, was convicted on Thursday of murdering Ahmad Al Ibrahim on a busy shopping street in Huddersfield earlier this year.
Ahmad, who fled war-torn Homs as an unaccompanied child refugee after being injured in a bombing, had only been living in the West Yorkshire town for a couple of weeks.
Ahmad Al Ibrahim, 16, was stabbed to death. Pic: PA/West Yorkshire Police
Jurors at Leeds Crown Court heard that on 3 April, Ahmad, whose parents said he had dreamed of being a doctor, was walking around the town with a friend – while Franco was going to buy eyelash glue with his girlfriend after a Jobcentre appointment.
When they crossed paths, prosecutors said Franco took “some petty exception” to Ahmad “innocuously” walking past his girlfriend.
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CCTV shows moments before man stabs refugee
CCTV footage showed Franco saying something to Ahmad, before calling him over after a short verbal altercation.
As Ahmad walked over, Franco opened the blade on a flick knife he was carrying and drove it into the teenager’s neck.
The court heard Franco had used cannabis before the encounter.
Later tests also revealed he had recently used cocaine, diazepam, ketamine and codeine.
During the trial, Franco told the court he thought he had seen Ahmad reaching for a weapon in his waistband during the altercation and said he had only been aiming for the boy’s cheek, and wanted to “cut him and get away”.
‘You were under no threat whatsoever’
Handing sentence, Judge Howard Crowson said Franco’s claims of being in fear of Ahmad were “incredible” – as CCTV footage showed him calmly eating ice cream while preparing to stab the teenager.
He told Franco: “During this trial you tried to portray Ahmad as aggressive and threatening. The CCTV reveals you were under no threat whatsoever.
“Ahmad was unarmed as he walked peacefully about Huddersfield town centre that day.”
He then said Franco’s claim to have seen a weapon on Ahmad’s waistband was “a lie,” and added: “Before Ahmad made any movement towards you, you prepared your knife for use.
“You calmly and surreptitiously removed the knife from your waistband, opened it and concealed it in your pocket.”
The judge said he was satisfied that Franco intended to kill Ahmad and that he had “lured” the boy to within striking distance before lunging at him with the knife, deliberately aiming for his neck.
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Prosecutor Richard Wright KC said during the trial that “to plunge that knife into someone’s neck who has done no more than walk towards you after you’ve engaged them in some verbal argy-bargy in the street… that’s not reasonable self-defence”.
He added: “This is a case of a young man with a cocky swagger, wandering around town with his girlfriend, on drugs, who doesn’t like the fact that Ahmad has spoken back to him.”
In a victim impact statement read in court, Ahmad’s uncle, Ghazwan Al Ibrahim, said the boy was “an intelligent and outstanding student” whose dream was to become a doctor.
He said his nephew had a “sociable and ambitious personality, loved helping people and was passionate about life”.
Mr Al Ibrahim added that Ahmad spent three months travelling to the UK and initially lived in a Home Office hotel in Swansea with other people his own age before being moved to Huddersfield to be near his uncle.
Paedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has died after being attacked in prison.
Watkins, 48, was serving a 29-year jail term for multiple sexual offences, including serious crimes against young children and babies at HMP Wakefield, in West Yorkshire.
He was attacked with a knife by another inmate on Saturday morning, sources have confirmed.
West Yorkshire Police said two men, aged 25 and 43, have been arrested on suspicion of murder.
A police van outside Wakefield prison. Pic: YappApp
Watkins was pronounced dead at the scene after prison staff reported the assault to police.
The prison went into lockdown in the immediate aftermath of the incident, sources added.
A Prison Service spokesperson said they could not comment while the police investigate.
Watkins was previously stabbed in an incident at the same prison in 2023, suffering non life-threatening injuries after he was reportedly taken hostage by three other inmates before being freed by prison officers six hours later.
He was sentenced in December 2013 to 29 years in prison, with a further six years on licence, after admitting 13 sex offences, including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby.
Watkins performing in 2004. Pic: PA
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He also encouraged a second fan to abuse her child during a webcam chat and secretly stashed child sexual abuse videos, some of which he had made himself.
At the time, police described him as a “committed, organised paedophile”.
Having found fame in Welsh rock band Lostprophets, Watkins was arrested after his Pontypridd home was searched on orders of a drug warrant in September 2012.
A large number of computers, mobile phones and storage devices were seized during the search.
When sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court, the singer was told he was being given an extended sentence – and a judge said his crimes “plumbed new depths of depravity”.
After being caught with a mobile phone behind bars in 2019, he told a court that he was locked up with “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst”.
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