🔗 Share this article Individual Imprisoned for Minimum 23 Years for Murdering Syrian-born Boy in Huddersfield A person has been jailed for life with a lowest sentence of 23 years for the killing of a teenage Syrian refugee after the boy passed his partner in Huddersfield town centre. Trial Learns Details of Fatal Altercation Leeds crown court was told how Alfie Franco, 20, attacked with a knife the teenager, sixteen, soon after the teenager brushed past Franco’s girlfriend. He was convicted of homicide on Thursday. The victim, who had left conflict-ridden his Syrian hometown after being injured in a bombing, had been residing in the Huddersfield area for only a couple of weeks when he met Franco, who had been for a employment office visit that day and was going to buy cosmetic adhesive with his partner. Details of the Assault The trial learned that the defendant – who had consumed weed, a stimulant drug, a prescription medication, an anesthetic and a painkiller – took “some petty exception” to the boy “without malice” walking past his girlfriend in the public space. Security camera video showed the defendant saying something to the victim, and gesturing him closer after a short verbal altercation. As the boy walked over, the individual deployed the weapon on a folding knife he was concealing in his clothing and thrust it into the boy’s neck. Trial Outcome and Judgment The defendant refuted the murder charge, but was judged guilty by a panel of jurors who deliberated for just over three hours. He admitted guilt to having a knife in a public area. While handing Franco his sentence on Friday, judge Howard Crowson said that upon observing the victim, the man “singled him out and drew him to within your range to strike before taking his life”. He said the defendant's assertion to have spotted a blade in the victim's belt was “a lie”. The judge said of Ahmad that “it stands as proof to the healthcare workers working to keep him alive and his determination to live he even arrived at the hospital breathing, but in truth his trauma were fatal”. Family Impact and Statement Reading out a statement prepared by Ahmad’s uncle his uncle, with contributions from his mother and father, Richard Wright KC told the trial that the teenager’s father had had a heart episode upon hearing the news of his boy's killing, leading to an operation. “Words cannot capture the impact of their awful offense and the influence it had over all involved,” the message read. “The boy's mom still sobs over his clothes as they remind her of him.” He, who said the boy was as close as a child and he felt guilty he could not protect him, went on to declare that the victim had thought he had found “a peaceful country and the fulfilment of dreams” in England, but instead was “cruelly taken away by the unnecessary and sudden attack”. “As Ahmad’s uncle, I will always feel responsible that the boy had come to the UK, and I could not keep him safe,” he said in a statement after the sentencing. “Dear Ahmad we care for you, we yearn for you and we will feel this way eternally.” History of the Teenager The trial heard the teenager had travelled for a quarter of a year to arrive in Britain from the Middle East, staying at a refugee centre for teenagers in a city in Wales and studying in the Welsh city before arriving in his final destination. The young man had dreamed of becoming a doctor, driven in part by a desire to look after his mother, who had a chronic medical issue.