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A person has been given a life sentence with a lowest sentence of 23 years for the murder of a young Syrian refugee after the victim walked by his girlfriend in the center of Huddersfield.

Trial Hears Particulars of Fatal Altercation

The court in Leeds was told how the accused, 20, stabbed the victim, sixteen, soon after the teenager brushed past his companion. He was found guilty of the killing on Thursday.

The victim, who had left war-torn his Syrian hometown after being wounded in a bombing, had been living in the local community for only a few weeks when he crossed paths with his attacker, who had been for a employment office visit that day and was going to buy beauty product with his girlfriend.

Details of the Incident

The court learned that the defendant – who had used weed, cocaine, a prescription medication, an anesthetic and codeine – took “a trivial issue” to Ahmad “innocuously” walking past his partner in the street.

CCTV footage displayed the man saying something to the teenager, and summoning him after a quick argument. As Ahmad walked over, the individual opened the blade on a flick knife he was carrying in his trousers and thrust it into the boy’s neck.

Trial Outcome and Sentencing

The accused pleaded not guilty to murder, but was found guilty by a jury who deliberated for just over three hours. He confessed to possessing a knife in a public space.

While delivering the judgment on Friday, the court judge said that upon observing the victim, Franco “marked him as a victim and lured him to within your proximity to strike before ending his life”. He said the defendant's assertion to have noticed a knife in Ahmad’s waistband was “a lie”.

The judge said of the teenager that “it is evidence to the medical personnel trying to save his life and his determination to live he even arrived at the hospital breathing, but in fact his injuries were fatal”.

Family Reaction and Statement

Reading out a message drafted by his relative the family member, with contributions from his mother and father, the legal representative told the court that the boy's dad had experienced cardiac arrest upon hearing the news of his boy's killing, causing him to require surgery.

“It is hard to express the consequence of their awful offense and the effect it had over everyone,” the statement stated. “The victim's mother still cries over his clothes as they smell of him.”

Ghazwan, who said his nephew was as close as a child and he felt ashamed he could not keep him safe, went on to state that the victim had thought he had found “the land of peace and the achievement of aspirations” in the UK, but instead was “cruelly taken away by the senseless and unprovoked act”.

“As Ahmad’s uncle, I will always carry the guilt that the boy had traveled to England, and I could not ensure his safety,” he said in a message after the verdict. “Ahmad we care for you, we long for you and we will feel this way eternally.”

Background of the Victim

The proceedings heard the teenager had made his way for 90 days to arrive in Britain from the Middle East, stopping in a shelter for youths in Swansea and studying in the Welsh city before relocating to Huddersfield. The young man had hoped to work as a physician, inspired partially by a wish to care for his mom, who suffered from a persistent condition.