Disturbing footage has been released of the moment a drug-fuelled thug stabbed a war-wounded Syrian refugee to death after he ‘innocuously’ walked past his killer’s pregnant girlfriend.
Knife-obsessed Alfie Franco, 20, launched the unprovoked attack on Ahmad Al Ibrahim, 16, on a busy shopping street in Huddersfield on April 3 after the teenager brushed past his partner.
The chilling clip – shared by West Yorkshire Police after Franco was yesterday convicted of murder – shows a verbal altercation breaking out after Ahmad made ‘minor contact’ with the woman as he walked past.
Franco, who had been high on a cocktail of cannabis, cocaine and ketamine, then appears to verbally provoke Ahmad, who turns and begins walking towards him in response.
As Ahmad gets closer to Franco, who can be seen eating an ice cream and wearing sunglasses, the knifeman can be seen reaching into his pocket before revealing a flick blade which he quickly plunged 6cm deep into Ahmad’s neck.
While the footage goes blank during the knife attack, the horrifying aftermath can be seen as Ahmad clutches his neck as he walks away in shock, while Franco flees the scene.
The 16-year-old, who had fled war-torn Syria hoping to find safety in the UK, died as a result of his injuries – including wounds to his jugular vein, larynx, trachea and carotid artery which caused immediate and massive blood loss.
A jury at Leeds Crown Court was shown the full, unedited footage of the harrowing attack on Ahmad yesterday, and Franco was found guilty after just three hours and 11 minutes to deliberate.
During the trial, it was heard Franco had several knives as well as a video on his mobile phone of him playing with the £15 knife he used to kill Ahmad.
He had captioned a photograph of his knife collection ‘Artillery coming along nice’, and just 17 hours before the attack boasted to friends of plans of stabbing someone.
Prosecuting, Richard Wright KC, told the jury how Franco referenced his weapons in a chat by saying ‘I’ve got my tings’.
‘They then discussed going to the house of their target when Franco said he would creep round the back and “Ching” him.’
The prosecution added how Franco also said, ‘anything happens I’ll chef him in the shoulder’.
‘Alfie Franco is a young man with a keen interest in possessing, carrying and using deadly weapons for offensive not defensive purposes,’ Mr Wright said.
‘Just as he did the very next day when he stabbed Ahmad in the neck for no good reason.’
During a trial on Tuesday, Franco said he stabbed the 16-year-old because he was ‘scared something was going to happen’ to him.
When asked why he took the knife with him, he said he had the weapon because he had been in altercations and had ‘heard things that happen in town.’
‘I just wanted to have it with me… to keep me safe,’ he told jurors.
Leeds Crown Court was told Franco had ‘taken some petty exception’ to Ahmad possibly making ‘minor contact’ with his girlfriend as he ‘innocuously’ walked past.
In his closing speech, Mr Wright told jurors: ‘Ahmad Al Ibrahim did not stand a chance, and Alfie Franco did not give him a second look…’
The comment came following Franco’s ‘admission’ during his cross-examination that he had ‘murdered’ Ahmad.
Mr Wright asked him: ‘You murdered him didn’t you?’ To which he replied: ‘Yes… I didn’t want to do that to anyone. I wish I could take it back but I can’t.’
He later claimed he understood ‘murdered’ to mean that he had taken Ahmad’s life.
Franco, of Kirkburton, near Huddersfield, admitted a charge of possessing a knife in a public place.
He will be sentenced by Judge Howard Crowson this afternoon.
