Stab Syrian Refugee's Neck Due To His Wife Hit, British Teenager Sentenced To Life In Prison

Illustration of the police rushing to respond to a call to the crime scene, aka TKP. (Unsplash-Martin Podsiad)

JAKARTA - Leeds Crown's court sentenced Franco Franco, a 20-year-old Briton to the murder of a Syrian refugee in Huddersfield, western Yorlshire, England.

During the trial, CCTV video footage which became evidence of this case was released by the police.

In the video footage, it can be seen that Franco's perpetrator, who had just consumed a mixture of marijuana, cocaine, and ketamine, took out a folding knife from his pocket and stabbed the victim Ahmad Al-Ibrahim with a very sadistic neck on April 3, 2025.

The victim, who was only 16 years old, suffered severe injuries to the veins of the jugullaries, trakea, and carotic arteries. Ahmad could not be saved from being killed at the scene.

Franco, who fled the police, was later arrested and charged with murder.

During the trial, the public prosecutor (JPU) told the jury that the perpetrator Franco had a "big interest" in the knife. The perpetrator also had video footage of himself holding a sharp weapon used in the murder.

"Alfie Franco is a young man who is very interested in possessing, carrying, and using lethal weapons for offensive purposes, not defensively just like he did the next day when he stabbed Ahmad in the neck for no apparent reason," said Public Prosecutor Richard Wright, Friday, October 11, quoted from AN.

The perpetrator also boasted to his friends a few hours before the stabbing incident that he was planning to stab someone.

The stabbing was motivated by an argument after the victim collided with the perpetrator's lover who was pregnant in the Huddersfield shopping center area.

When questioned in court, the perpetrator claimed to have carried out his actions out of fear. The perpetrator also told the jury that he was carrying a knife because he had "relented things that were happening in the city" and wanted to "protect security."

He later admitted during a cross-check that he had "killed" Ahmad, saying: "Yes ... I don't want to do that to anyone. I hope I can withdraw but I can't."

Responding to the court's verdict against the perpetrator, Temporary Superintendent Detective from the Murder Case Investigation Team, Damian Roebuck, appreciated the jury and judges during the trial of the murder of Ahmad Al-Ibrahim who fled England to save himself from conflict in his country, Syria.

"We welcome Franco's verdict for the terrible and unexplained murder of a teenager he has never met and who he has never fought for," Roebuck said.