Man who murdered teenage Syrian refugee detained for minimum of 23 years

A man who stabbed a teenage Syrian refugee in the neck after he “innocuously” brushed past his girlfriend on a crowded shopping street has been detained for life with a minimum term of 23 years.

Alfie Franco, 20, was found guilty of murder over the “pointless, motiveless” broad daylight attack on 16-year-old Ahmad Al Ibrahim in Huddersfield town centre on April 3.

Ahmad, who fled war-torn Homs after being injured in a bombing, had been living in the West Yorkshire town for only a couple of weeks when he crossed paths with Franco, who had been for a Jobcentre appointment that day and was going to buy eyelash glue with his girlfriend.

Leeds Crown Court heard Franco – who had consumed cannabis, cocaine, diazepam, ketamine, and codeine – took “some petty exception” to Ahmad “innocuously” walking past his girlfriend in the street.

CCTV footage showed Franco saying something to Ahmad, and calling him over after a short verbal altercation.

As Ahmad walked over, Franco opened the blade on a flick knife he was carrying in his trousers and drove it into the boy’s neck.

Prosecutors said Franco kept the “savage” knife hidden until the last second so that Ahmad, who was unarmed, “didn’t have a chance”.

Footage played during the trial showed Ahmad clutching his throat and staggering a few yards up the street before collapsing.

Franco denied murder, but was found guilty by a jury who deliberated for just over three hours. He pleaded guilty to possessing a knife in a public place.

Franco, who spent most of his childhood in South Africa before returning to Huddersfield at the age of 13, told the trial he thought he had seen Ahmad reaching for a weapon in his waistband.

He said he had been aiming for the boy’s cheek and just wanted to “cut him and get away”.

Sentencing him to life with a minimum term of 23 years on Friday, Judge Howard Crowson said Franco’s claims of being in fear of Ahmad were “incredible” as the CCTV footage showed the defendant calmly eating ice cream while preparing to stab him.

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 said Franco’s claim to have seen a weapon on Ahmad’s waistband was “a lie”.

The judge said: “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.”

He 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.

Jurors heard Franco “had a wider interest in knives” and had messaged a friend the day before threatening to stab someone over a stolen pushbike.

In a victim impact statement read in court, Ahmad’s uncle, Ghazwan Al Ibrahim, said Ahmad 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 said 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.

He said Ahmad’s death had disappointed all his hopes of a better life in the UK and wasted all his family’s efforts to get him there.

Mr Al Ibrahim said: “It was the end of everything we had hoped for Ahmad after we had been happy about his arrival in the UK – the land of peace and the fulfilment of dreams.”