Man who murdered uncle and hid body in Batley bank jailed

A drug dealer who kidnapped and murdered his uncle before hiding his body in a bank vault has been jailed for more than 34 years.

Asghar Badshah, a 39-year-old bus driver from Bradford, was taken to a disused bank on Commercial Street in Batley by his nephew, Tahir Syed, on 30 November 2019 over a missing sum of money, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Mr Badshah was beaten to death and his body was found behind a false wall in a vault four weeks later.

Syed, 42, of no fixed address, was found guilty of murder, conspiracy to kidnap and drugs conspiracy offences on Monday and sentenced at the same court earlier.

Syed and his associates had imported tonnes of cocaine and heroin to the UK in more than 30 shipments between 2016 to 2021, the court heard.

Judge Thomas Bayliss KC said Mr Badshah had been asked to “hide a large amount of cash” by Syed, who then suspected Mr Badshah of stealing £600,000 from him.

The court was told how Mr Badshah was kidnapped from his mother’s address in Mayo Road, Bradford, in a Mercedes at around 01:35 GMT on the day of the murder and taken to the bank, where he was beaten with a metal rod.

Syed lied to his family, the court heard, telling them that his uncle was still alive, knowing that in reality his naked body had been stored in the disused bank.

He then fled the country to the Netherlands, Albania and Iran before he was detained on 11 November 2021 in Turkey and brought back to the UK to stand trial.

The court heard in a statement from Mr Badshah’s wife, Nasra Bibi Shah, that he had been looking forward to becoming a father.

“They say time is a great healer,” Mrs Shah said.

“It has been over five years since my beloved husband, my soulmate, was brutally taken away from me.”

Mrs Shah described her husband’s murder as “a cruel and senseless act” and said shortly before his death, he had bought baby clothes after they received positive news regarding IVF.

“We had dreams to have children, to watch them grow,” she said.

The court was told that Ms Shah gave birth via IVF to Mr Badshah’s son five years after his death.

She said that dressing her son in the clothes her husband had bought “was one of the most heart-breaking moments of my life”.

Speaking in court, Mr Badshah’s twin brother, Akbar Badshah, said: “Tahir’s evil and selfish actions led to the murder of my beloved brother.

“Not knowing where my brother was, the silence, the unanswered questions, was an agony no-one should ever have to endure.”

He said: “Asghar was cherished not just by me, but by everyone who knew him.”

He also added that Syed denied Mr Badshah the Islamic ritual of washing the body of the deceased and burying them within three days.

Mr Badshah’s brother described it as “a sin against humanity and faith”.

Also read out in court were the words of Nazir Fatima, Mr Badshah’s late mother.

She said it made her “physically sick” to think about what her son endured at the hands of Syed.

She spoke of her close relationship with her son, how she missed him and how she longed for her own death so she could be reunited with him.

“I just want to hold him again and never let go,” the court heard.

Syed had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess criminal money.

He was jailed for a minimum term of 34 years and 153 days, taking into account almost four years already spent behind bars since being extradited from Turkey.