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A man has been jailed for life with a lowest sentence of 23 years for the homicide of a young Syrian refugee after the victim passed his companion in the center of Huddersfield.

Trial Learns Details of Deadly Altercation

A Leeds courtroom heard how Alfie Franco, aged 20, stabbed the victim, 16, soon after the teenager passed his companion. He was declared guilty of homicide on the fourth day of the week.

The teenager, who had left conflict-ridden his Syrian hometown after being hurt in a bombing, had been living in the Huddersfield area for only a couple of weeks when he crossed paths with the defendant, who had been for a employment office visit that day and was intending to purchase beauty product with his female companion.

Details of the Attack

The court heard that Franco – who had taken cannabis, a stimulant drug, a prescription medication, ketamine and codeine – took “a minor offense” to the boy “innocuously” passing by his girlfriend in the road.

Surveillance tape revealed Franco making a remark to the victim, and summoning him after a short verbal altercation. As the boy came closer, the individual opened the blade on a folding knife he was holding in his trousers and thrust it into the boy’s neck.

Trial Outcome and Judgment

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

While handing Franco his sentence on last Friday, the presiding judge said that upon observing the victim, the man “identified him as a target and drew him to within your range to attack before taking his life”. He said the defendant's assertion to have spotted a blade in the victim's belt was “a lie”.

He said of the victim that “it is evidence to the medical personnel trying to save his life and his determination to live he even made it to the hospital alive, but in reality his wounds were unsurvivable”.

Family Reaction and Message

Reading out a message drafted by his relative the family member, with input from his parents, the legal representative told the court that the boy's dad had experienced cardiac arrest upon being informed of his boy's killing, causing him to require surgery.

“Words cannot capture the effect of their heinous crime and the influence it had over everyone,” the statement said. “His mother still sobs over his clothes as they carry his scent.”

He, who said the boy was dear to him and he felt guilty he could not shield him, went on to explain that Ahmad had thought he had found “a safe haven and the fulfilment of dreams” in the UK, but instead was “brutally snatched by the senseless and unprovoked act”.

“As Ahmad’s uncle, I will always carry the guilt that Ahmad had come to the UK, and I could not protect him,” he said in a statement after the sentencing. “Dear Ahmad we love you, we long for you and we will do for ever.”

Background of the Teenager

The court was told the teenager had made his way for 90 days to arrive in Britain from the Middle East, stopping in a shelter for teenagers in Swansea and attending college in the local college before relocating to Huddersfield. The young man had hoped to work as a medical professional, driven in part by a desire to care for his mom, who was affected by a persistent condition.