A 16-year-old Syrian refugee was murdered in the middle of the street: he had fled the war two weeks earlier and dreamed of being a doctor

The city center HuddersfieldUnited Kingdom, became the scene of a brutal crime, which left passersby who were walking through the shopping area stunned. Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahimand syrian refugee of 16 years, who had fled the war in Syria just two weeks ago, was stabbed in the neck by another 20-year-old young man, and died in the middle of the street.

While the attacker remains in custody behind bars, accused of murder, the case generates commotion on social networks. In the last few hours, the county police West Yorkshire shared the video of the attack.

The Syrian teenager was staying at his uncle’s house, and on the day of his tragic death he had gone out for a walk with his cousin to see the center of Huddersfield, a British city of Victorian architecture, famous for being the birthplace of rugby league and for the historic success of the Huddersfield Town AFC football team.

That April 3, Ahmad was dressed in a yellow jacket and black pants, and was walking along the busy shopping street. At a corner, as he crossed he passed near Alfie Francothe attacker, who was next to his bride, a pregnant woman who ate ice cream.

Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim, in a yellow jacket, seconds before suffering a fatal stab wound.

Nothing seemed to indicate that that exchange of a fleeting glance was going to end in a murder. The brief and deadly sequence was filmed by urban video surveillance cameras.

In the chilling video, which is edited so as not to show the exact moment of the attack, an alleged verbal altercation is observed after Ahmad brushed the arm of the attacker’s partner in that corner.

The teenager retraced his steps after Franco spoke to him, and the next thing was the fatal stab wound, six centimeters deep on Ahmad’s neck.

In his last minutes alive, the refugee managed to take a few steps in a state of shock, while Franco fled with his girlfriend. Cousin Ahmad asked for medical help, but Syrian teenager died on the way to hospitaldue to serious injuries to the jugular vein, larynx, trachea and carotid artery.

It was later learned that the murderer had consumed a cocktail of drugs of cannabis, cocaine and ketamine. Furthermore he had a arsenal of knives in his house and recordings on his cell phone where he recorded himself practicing attacks; and had confessed to his friends a day earlier that he felt like «stabbing someone.»

Alfie Franco, the 20-year-old attacker, who stabbed Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim. (Photo: X @WestYorksPolice9

The jury at Leeds Crown Court watched the full, unedited video of the horrific attack on Ahmad, and declared culpable to Franco after three hours and 11 minutes of deliberation. He is currently awaiting his judgmentwhich will be communicated at the hearing tomorrow, October 11.

«The news was welcomed by senior detectives, who described the attack in which Ahmad was stabbed in the neck as an act of unprovoked and almost inexplicable savagery,» police authorities published in the statement of the imminent sentencing.

Who was Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim, the 16-year-old Syrian refugee who was murdered in the middle of the street in the United Kingdom

Ahmad’s uncle, brother of the teenager’s father, gave devastating testimony to The Guardian. He confirmed that his nephew had lived in the city only two weeks before the attack, and that he was trying to «make friends» the day he was stabbed.

«Hours before his death, Ahmad had asked me to see Kirklees College, where he was enrolled because I dreamed of being a doctorand I had promised to take him later,» said the victim’s uncle, who preferred to remain anonymous, in dismay.

«One of my sons offered to take him for a walk to the center of Huddersfield, show him a new supermarket selling Asian and Arabic food, and tour the local market, after spending several days together as a family for Ramadan,» he said.

Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim was 16 years old and dreamed of being a doctor. (Photo: X @WestYorksPolice)

The last photos taken in those last days of life show the teenager happy and smiling, surrounded by his loved ones. «I had only spent a few days with my children, but they loved him very much because He was a very nice boy, very affectionate. with the children, I dedicated a lot of time to them and they played for hours,» he said.

He also said that Ahmad had been injured after the bomb explosion during the war in Syriabut he recovered and his parents decided that it was time to send him to the United Kingdom with his uncle, so that «he would be safer» and have opportunities to fulfill his dream of being a doctor.

«Ahmad left there his father, my brother, who works as a taxi driver, his mother and three sisters, who are still in the city of Homs,» he said. And he added: «That day I told him myself: ‘You have to go downtown to know where everything is, to know where you can go shopping, and how to go to school from here.'»

He said that Ahmad was very loved by his classmates and teachers, and had gotten the best grades in mathematics. «He loved school, that’s why he came here, because After seeing so many deaths, I just wanted to be a doctor and save people«he lamented.

The teenager had been living in a refugee center in Swansea, where he was much loved, until March 20, when he moved to Huddersfield.

Five months after the attack and awaiting the attacker’s imminent sentencing, the teenager’s uncle confessed that he still could not tell his children that Ahmad died. «My children, who are all under 10 years old, still send letters to the hospital, believing that he will be fine,» he said sadly.

«It was very difficult to see false and malicious rumors on the internet about who my nephew was; some said he was a drug dealer, but none of that is true; he was only 16 years old, he was a great boy who went from a good family in Syria to a good family in the United Kingdom,» he said.

«We’ve been here for eight years and we haven’t had any problems. We go from work to home, and from school to home,» he said. Finally, he thanked the gestures of support from the residents, who left flowers at the site of the murder, and joined a fundraising campaign for the repatriation of Ahmad’s body to Syria, where his parents wait, still without being able to say goodbye to their son.