Man, 20, guilty of murdering teenage refugee

A MAN who stabbed a teenage Syrian refugee in the neck after he brushed past his girlfriend on a busy shopping street has been found guilty of murder.

- KATIE DICKINSON and DAVE HIGGENS

Ahmad Al Ibrahim, 16, who fled war-torn Homs after being injured in a bombing, had been living in Huddersfield for only a couple of weeks when he was stabbed to death by Alfie Franco, 20, in the West Yorkshire town centre.

Leeds Crown Court heard that on April 3 Ahmad was walking around the town with a friend, and Franco was going to buy eyelash glue with his girlfriend after a Job-centre appointment.

When the two pairs crossed paths, Franco took “some petty exception” to Ahmad “innocuously” walking past his girlfriend, jurors were told.

CCTV footage shows 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 knife hidden “in a sly way” 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.