Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Thugs caged for brutal murder of dad-of-four
COURT REPORTER Th e killers of Caldercruix dad- offour Mohammed Abu Sammour have been jailed for a total of 24 years.
Scott Pearson, 22, and Ryan Hunter, 28, were sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow last week following the death of Mr Sammour last October.
Pearson was locked up for a minimum of 18 years after he was convicted of murdering the 49-year-old at a Taylor Wimpey building site in Newarthill.
Hunter was sentenced to six years after he pled guilty to the reduced charge of culpable homicide.
Mr Sammour died after the pair and another man planned to take his works van to go joyriding.
Jurors earlier heard how Mohammed was beaten unconscious then reversed over in his own vehicle; he suffered 83 injuries including fractures to his face and skull and multiple rib injuries.
It emerged Pearson — whose criminal record stretches back to when he was 12 — had only been freed from prison eight days earlier.
Sentencing, Lord Burns told Pearson: “Mr Sammour must have been dragged for a considerable distance while trapped under the van.
“It is plain that you were fully aware that you had reversed over him.
“The way you did this has considered to be murderous. You then fled the scene leaving others to give help to Mr Sammour as he lay dying.”
Hunter had pled guilty on the basis he did not take any “physical action” to stop Pearson or get out the van to help the victim.
Lord Burns told him: “You could have detached yourself from the crime long before. Along with your friends, you left Mr Sammour to his fate.”
A trial earlier heard how the attackers spotted Mohammed’s works van and planned to steal it.
But, the security guard was inside the vehicle and tried to chase them away.
Pearson – armed with a knuckleduster – turned on Mohammed.
Pearson stamped on the victim leaving him unconscious.
The trio then jumped into the van – Pearson was warned Mohammed might be prone behind the vehicle, but he stated: “I don’t care.”
Mohammed appeared to pray as medics tended to him but he sadly passed away in hospital that morning.
The tracker in the stolen van helped snared the killers. Police obtained CCTV of areas the vehicle had gone and Pearson was initially identified.
But, the thug told officers: “It has f*** all to do with me. I was at my f****** pal’s.”
Mohammed had arrived in the UK from Palestine 17 years ago. He lived with his wife Fidaa and their four sons and had been working as a guard for the firm Osprey.
After the hearing, Fidaa said “no sentence or punishment will bring back Mohammed”.
The statement – read by family lawyer Aamer Anwar – added: “These killers showed a barbaric disregard for his life.”
The Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC was also urged to “do his duty” to help bring the third person allegedly involved to court.
The statement said: “The fight for justice is not over.”
Last week, an 18- yearold man from Holytown appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court in connection with the death of Mr Sammour.
He was charged with culpable homicide and the theft of a motor vehicle. He made no plea and was granted bail.