A TEENAGER who killed 19-year-old Kian Tordoff in a vicious knife attack will spend at least 15 years behind bars.
Sheriar Khan has been told he will only be released if the Parole Board deems it safe – and when he is released, he will be on license for life.
He was convicted of Mr Tordoff’s murder on Thursday afternoon as the fifth day of jury deliberations ended.
The 17-year-old was also found guilty of wounding Mr Tordoff’s close friend Matthew Page, who is also known as Matthew Lowther, with intent.
Sheryar’s older brother, Arbaz Khan, 22, of Yew Tree Avenue, and Arbaz’s friend, Mohammed Adil Hussain, 18, of Kite Mews, Lower Grange, were found guilty of the manslaughter of Mr Tordoff and guilty of unlawfully wounding Mr. Lowther.
Khan was sentenced to a total of 14 years, two-thirds of which he will serve before being released on licence, while Hussain was sentenced to nine years in a youth institution.
The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell QC, told the defendants when he sentenced them: “Kian Tordoff was just 19 when he went on a night out in Bradford on Saturday, October 9, last year. He never came home that night, his life was cut short in a senseless knife attack carried out by you, Sheriar Khan, encouraged by you, Arbaz Khan and Muhammad Adil Hussain.’
He said Arbaz Khan bore “grave responsibility” for what happened after violence initially escalated on Westgate in Bradford city centre.
This happened after he approached a man named “Chaser” who was causing trouble for his younger brother and a fight broke out. Others took part in scenes which the judge described as “disgraceful”.
He said Khan was humiliated and wasn’t ready to let it lie or get the police involved. Judge Mansell said he went home to retrieve a machete which he intended to take back to Bradford to use against those responsible, while Hussain also armed himself with a knife taken from his home.
It was not clear where Sheriar Khan got his knife and machete.
Back in Bradford, Sherriar and Arbaaz Khan’s brother Aizaz Khan – who was acquitted of murder and manslaughter – had driven his BMW X5 a few meters to Rawson Square, where Mr Tordoff and Mr Page were fiddling with pieces of cardboard .
The judge said it was there that Arbaaz Khan shouted words such as “now we’ve got you, you little bastards” when he recognized some of those involved in the previous incident.
Arbaz Khan, his brother Sheriar and Hussain got out of the car with weapons ready as it was still moving.
Mr Tordoff instinctively fled, as did the others, but was chased down by the youngest Khan brother, who launched the “ferocious” attack with both weapons as he lay defenseless.
He ran for his life back to the others in the group and the judge said: “The footage of those moments of him fighting for his life and his friends desperately trying to help him will haunt Kian Tordoff’s family and the young people present at Rawson Square tonight for many years to come.
Sheriar Khan then saw Mr Page and attacked him with a knife. He was lucky to survive.
Addressing Arbaz Khan, the judge said: “Although you did not stab or injure anyone, your actions in arming yourself and arranging for your younger brother Sheriar to arm himself clearly encouraged him to get out of that vehicle and attack a or more than responsible.
“As for you, Mohammed Adil Hussain, you voluntarily armed yourself and jumped out of that car with the intention of playing your part in the attack.
“You chased Matthew Page down North Parade with a knife pointed at him, but when he pulled away you didn’t chase him.
“Although you did not stab or injure anyone, your actions in arming yourself and jumping out of that BMW at the same time as Sheriar and Arbaz Khan clearly acted as further encouragement to Sheriar to carry out the attacks that he did.”
Addressing the aftermath, he said CCTV evidence showed none of them appeared remorseful or concerned about those who were injured.
Judge Mansell rejected the evidence given by Arbaz Khan about his younger brother sitting with his head down and crying during the journey back, describing it as “totally misleading”.
He said the priority once they got back in the car was to get out of the area and dispose of the weapons somewhere they would never be found.
“The CCTV footage which describes the movement of the BMW proves that each of you disposed of these weapons in or near Lister Park,” the judge said.
Sentencing Sheriar Khan, the judge said the ferocity of the attack, clearly captured on CCTV, was an aggravating factor, as was the presence of other young people who witnessed the violence and its aftermath, including Mr Tordoff dying in front of them .
Disposing of weapons and laundering clothing to conceal evidence is also an aggravating factor. Judge Mansell said that while he accepted that the 17-year-old, who was 16 at the time, did not set out with a specific intention to kill Kian Tordoff, the attack was so vicious and prolonged that the lack of intent to kill was was extinguished.
He found little evidence that his psychosis was driving his behavior and said the jury was right to reject his claim that voices in his head told him to do it. “The only voices telling you to behave like this come from your older brother Arbaz,” the judge said.
However, he said he would not completely ignore his mental disorder and that his development as a young man had been “severely affected”. The judge said the influence of his elder brother Arbaaz cannot be underestimated.
He concluded that the combination of age, immaturity and his mental disorder greatly reduced his culpability. Judge Mansell said the minimum time he must spend in custody before being eligible to apply for release will be 16 years, reduced to 15 years and 91 days to reflect days spent in custody.
Arbaaz Khan is said to have “deliberately encouraged” his brother to attack one or more of those involved in the earlier Westgate incident.
Aggravating circumstances include an element of premeditation, the presence of other witnesses to the incident, and the discharge of a weapon.
The judge considered his relatively young age, his previous good character and evidence of positive good character as mitigating factors.
He received an 11-year sentence for manslaughter and a three-year consecutive sentence for unlawful wounding.
Muhammad Adil Hussain is said to have played a “minor role” with a “clear lack of appetite” for the battle once it got down to it.
Judge Mansell said he had to take into account the fact he was only 17 at the time of the offenses and reduced the sentence he would have received if he had been an adult by a third.
He was sentenced to seven and a half years for manslaughter, with a consecutive sentence of 18 months for unlawful wounding. The case prompted Judge Mansell to issue a warning about the dangers of knife crime.
He said: “Unfortunately, cases like this, where young men take up arms to take revenge or take the law into their own hands, are not uncommon. The courts need to send a clear message of deterrence when crimes like this are committed, particularly to young people and those responsible for them.
Speaking after the case, Detective Chief Constable Mark Bowes, of West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Investigation Unit, said: “The attack on Kian and his friend was horrific in which a group of men attacked and killed a young man with a knife.
“This case shows the terrible human cost of knife crime. Kian had his whole life ahead of him and he was cruelly interrupted by these three men who sought revenge and pre-planned their attack by leaving the scene and returning armed with weapons.
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