Four jailed for murder of 18-year-old man

Four men have been jailed after being found guilty of the murder of an 18-year-old man in a Leicester street.

Rizwan Gul, 26; Mohammed Hansrod, 30; Israfeel Gul, 28; and Zakir Brant, 26, were all sentenced to life imprisonment today (Friday) after being convicted on Tuesday (9 November) of the murder of Abdirahim Mohamed following a trial at Leicester Crown Court.

From left to right: Rizwan Gul, Mohammed Hansrod, Israfeel Gul and Zakir Brant

 

Mr Mohamed died in hospital during the early hours of Thursday 9 September last year after being found in Melbourne Street, Leicester, on the previous evening with multiple stab wounds.

• Rizwan Gul, of no fixed address was sentenced to serve a minimum of 28 years
• Hansrod, of Dulverton Road, Leicester, was sentenced to serve a minimum of 28 years
• Israfeel Gul, of New Way Road, Leicester, was sentenced to serve a minimum of 25 years
• Brant, of Bale Road, Leicester, was sentenced to serve a minimum of 25 years.

Daniel Pollard, 30; and Bhavic Parmar, 26, were found guilty of the manslaughter of Mr Mohammed following the trial. They were found not guilty of murder.

From left to right: Daniel Pollard and Bhavic Parmar

 

• Pollard, of Calder Road, Leicester, was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.
• Parmar, of Bowling Green Street, Leicester, was also sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for manslaughter. At the sentencing Parmar was also sentenced to a total of two and a half years imprisonment to be served consecutively for separate, unconnected offences of robbery, aggravated taking a vehicle without consent, supplying cocaine, supplying cannabis and possession of cannabis. The total sentence Parmar received was therefore 16 years and six months imprisonment.

Fahad Ali Saleem, 26, was found guilty of assisting an offender in connection with the incident. Muhamad Firoz Khan, 34, had previously pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.

From left to right: Fahad Ali Saleem and Muhamad Firoz Khan

 

• Saleem, of Frederick Street, Leicester, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. He was also sentenced to an additional eight months to be served consecutively for an invoked suspended sentence. The total sentence therefore received was seven years and eight months imprisonment.
• Khan, of Apollo Court, Leicester, was sentenced to three years imprisonment.

At the sentencing HHJ Spencer KC formally commended all officers involved in the investigation.

Police had received a number of calls at around 11.44pm on Wednesday 8 September last year reporting a fight in the area of Melbourne Street.

Officers attended where Mr Mohamed was found. He had suffered from seven stab wounds. The 18-year-old was taken to hospital by ambulance but was sadly pronounced deceased at 1.21am on the morning of Thursday 9 September.

A murder investigation was launched with a number of complex enquiries carried out including forensic examination, CCTV analysis and enquiries into phones and vehicle movements.

During the investigation, detectives established Mr Mohamed had been in the Melbourne Street area on 8 September. An Audi vehicle arrived in the area where a number of men got out of the vehicle and chased Mr Mohamed.

Following the attack, which was not captured on CCTV, the men made their way to Kent Street after losing the key to the Audi vehicle. A Ford Mondeo picked them up from the area.

Members of the public came out to help Mr Mohamed while paramedics arrived at the scene. Mr Mohamed was taken to hospital by ambulance where he sadly died a short time later.

From enquiries, it is believed the attack was carried out following a previous incident involving Mr Mohamed and some of the defendants.

As the investigation progressed, charges were made in connection with Mr Mohamed’s death.

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.

“Four men have been convicted of Mr Mohamed’s murder, two men of manslaughter and one man of assisting an offender. One man 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.

“Public information was vital in helping us to progress our enquiries and to find those responsible for Mr Mohamed’s death. Thank you to those of you who worked with us and supported us during the investigation by providing this information to us.

“Our response and investigation team also worked tirelessly to ensure those responsible were brought before the courts. Following the initial incident, officers worked extremely long hours across a 17-day period, showing true professionalism and commitment, to ensure that arrests and charges were made. My sincere thanks go to all who were involved.

“Thank you also to prosecution counsel James House KC and Dan Bishop for their work leading to and throughout the trial.”

“Sadly, today’s sentencing is yet another example of a young life being lost due to knife crime. Together we need to continue working together to stop this from happening. Please continue to work with us to raise awareness of the extreme dangers of these crimes and please continue to report any information you have to us in relation to knife crime so that we can take the action required and put a stop to further tragedy like this from happening on our streets.”

The family of Abdirahim Mohamed made a statement earlier this week following the convictions. The full statement can be found here - “He will always be remembered with boundless love”: Family of Abdirahim Mohamed issue statement | Leicestershire Police (leics.police.uk)

Following the trial, Abdul Suleman, 59, was found not guilty of murder and not guilty of manslaughter.  Adam Brant, 29, and Khatib Gul, 58, were found not guilty of assisting an offender.

 

 

** A dedicated team set up in force – the Violence and Complex Crime Unit – continues to focus on preventing and tackling violent crime. The team works closely with the Violence Reduction Network (VRN) and other partners and is supported by additional Government funding aimed at addressing violent crime. 

This includes raising awareness of knife crime and providing advice and support to people concerned about knife crime.

If you're a young person concerned about knife crime you can visit www.livesafe.org.uk/livesnotknives If you’re a parent or carer concerned about knife crime, visit Knife crime advice for parents | LiveSafe

For more information on the work of the VCCU, visit Police team set up to tackle violent crime marks two year anniversary | Leicestershire Police (leics.police.uk)