Vigil for Yassar’s 30th birthday

FRIENDS and relatives will stage a roadside vigil for Yassar Yaqub, the man shot on the slip road of the M62, on what would have been his 30th birthday.

Led by Yassar’s dad Mohammed, the vigil will be held at Ainley Top tonight at 6.30pm.

Yassar was in the passenger seat of an Audi that was stopped on the slip road at Ainley Top in January 2017.

Armed police forced the car to stop and an officer opened fire, shooting Yassar through the windscreen.

Yassar was pronounced dead and an inquiry was launched by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, now the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The family’s latest vigil at the spot where he died will be a celebration to mark his birthday.

Mr Yaqub said the vigil would be smaller than before and would be for family and friends to mark what would have been a milestone birthday.

Helium-filled balloons will be released and candles lit.

After the vigil, which will last about an hour, friends and family will meet up for a meal which will include a “massive” specially-made birthday cake with photographs of Yassar.

In the afternoon Mr Yaqub, who has only recently come out of hospital after a kidney operation, will go to Yassar’s grave at Hey Lane Cemetery to lay flowers.

The slip road at Ainley Top will not be closed and Mr Yaqub said the event would be low key.

“This is a vigil to remember my son and not something to cause people any pain or delays,” he said.

Mr Yaqub said he had not heard anything further on the IOPC inquiry.

The final report will not be published until after the end of outstanding court trials expected later this year.