West Yorkshire PoliceA man fatally stabbed a 16-year-old Syrian refugee with a flick knife after he brushed past his girlfriend in the street, a court heard.
Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim had been living in Huddersfield for a couple of weeks when he was stabbed in broad daylight by 20-year-old Alfie Franco, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Jurors were told Ahmad was walking in a crowded shopping area on 3 April when he walked past the pair and “may have made, at most, minor contact with her” on Ramsden Street.
Mr Franco, of The Crescent, Kirkburton, denies murder.
Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, said Mr Franco seemed to have taken “some petty exception to that entirely innocuous passing”, which took place at about 14:40 BST.
He called Ahmad back, the court heard, and as he walked towards him Mr Franco reached into his pocket and opened the blade of the knife.
Mr Wright said he pulled it out, lunged forward and stabbed Ahmad in the neck.
The attack caused “immediate and massive blood loss” and compromised his ability to breathe, the prosecutor said.
He staggered up the street and collapsed, the jury was told.
Mr Franco wiped the blood from the blade, put the knife in his pocket and ran away, Mr Wright added.
Ahmad was taken to hospital and died a short time later.
Mr Wright said there was no evidence that Ahmad, who was walking with a friend, was carrying any kind of weapon and was seen “behaving in a perfectly peaceful manner”.
Alex Moss/BBCThe court heard Mr Franco went home after fleeing the scene, but later handed himself in to police.
He told officers he saw something that he thought was a weapon on Ahmad’s waist and so he took out his knife in self defence, the jury was told.
Mr Wright said: “He described Ahmad as ‘launching’ at him and claimed that he had ‘launched’ back using his non-dominant left hand and not meaning to stab him where he stabbed him.”
Ahmad, who spoke English and enrolled in college, had arrived in the UK as an unaccompanied child refugee and was moved to Huddersfield to be near a relative.
Mr Wright continued: “The prosecution say that when Alfie Franco deliberately stabbed Ahmad in the neck he murdered him.
“That is because the stabbing was deliberate, it was unlawful and Alfie Franco meant to cause Ahmad – at the very least – really serious injury.”
Toxicology tests showed Mr Franco had recently used cannabis as well as cocaine, ketamine, codeine and diazepam, the court heard.
A “particularly large and sharp knife” was also recovered from his home, and online searches on his phone showed he had acquired a third knife, the jury was told.
The trial continues.
Additional reporting by PA Media.
