Four men were found guilty of killing teenager Abdirahim Mohamed in Leicester in September of last year following a fake drug deal.
Following a trial on Tuesday (8) at Leicester Crown Court, Rizwan Gul, 26, Mohammed Hansrod, 30, Israfeel Gul, 28, and Zakir Brant, 26, were all found guilty.
Although they were found not guilty of the teenager’s murder, Daniel Pollard, 30, and Bhavic Parmar, 26, were convicted guilty of manslaughter. Muhamad Firoz Khan had earlier pled guilty to assisting an offender, while Fahad Ali Saleem was convicted guilty of assisting an offender.
During the trial, Abdul Suleman, 59, Adam Brant, 29, and Khatib Gul, 58, were found not guilty.
Mohamed, 18, died in hospital on September 9, 2021, after being stabbed the day before in Melbourne Street, Leicester.
The victim was in the Melbourne Street area on September 8, according to police. When an Audi vehicle arrived in the area, several men got out and chased him. After losing the key to the Audi vehicle, the men made their way to Kent Street, which was not captured on CCTV. Later, they were picked up from the area by a Ford car.
Members of the public came out to help Mohamed while paramedics arrived at the scene. He had seven stab wounds in his body. Mohamed was taken to hospital by ambulance where he died a short time later.
Police believe the attack was carried out following a previous incident involving Mohamed and some of the defendants. The court heard that Gul and two others were robbed when a gang burst into a flat in the city just after midnight on 7 September. It led to Mohamed being ambushed near a park during the bogus drug deal.
Witnesses in Melbourne Street described six men in balaclavas getting out of a car, at least four of them carrying large knives.
Mohamed’s family said that the horror of his death still haunts them and they are ‘tormented’ at the thought of what he endured.
“It is difficult for us as a family to express our feeling of loss and the thought of never being able to see Abdirahim again, ever talk to him again or ever hold him again. Abdirahim died in the most horrendous of circumstances. As a family we are tormented at the thought of what he endured. He was outnumbered by men much older than him and was unable to defend himself. There was no-one to rescue him,” the family said in a statement.
“The thought of this is unbearable and the horror of it haunts us. There is no comfort to be had, there is no consoling thought for us in the way that Abdirahim died. It is too painful for us to contemplate a future without Abdirahim. Our lives will never be the same again. For us, Abdirahim will never be forgotten and he will always be remembered with boundless love.”
Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Tony Yarwood, of the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said: “This was an extremely violent and planned attack on an 18-year-old man which took away his life. My thoughts remain with Mr Mohamed’s family at this time, who have suffered unimaginable pain and loss.
“Today, four men have been convicted of Mohamed’s murder, two men of manslaughter and one man of assisting an offender. One man has previously pleaded guilty to assisting an offender. These convictions have only happened thanks to support from our communities and the work of our dedicated response and investigation teams.”
According to reports, the men will be sentenced on Friday (11).
