Family to hold Yassar vigil
100 EXPECTED TO TURN OUT AT THE SITE WHERE MAN WAS SHOT DEAD BY POLICE
AROUND 100 people are expected to attend a vigil to remember Yassar Yaqub who was shot dead by police on the M62 slip road at Ainley Top.
Mr Yaqub, a 28-year-old father-oftwo, was in one of two cars travelling in convoy when four unmarked police vehicles stopped them at junction 24 and an armed West Yorkshire Police officer opened fire.
A recent court case heard Mr Yaqub was holding a handgun and aimed it at officers before he was shot dead.
Officers were said to be acting on a tip-off over firearms and a handgun was found in the footwell.
A trial at Leeds Crown Court heard that Mr Yaqub, of Crosland Moor, was travelling in the passenger seat of Mohsin Amin’s Audi when the incident unfolded.
Amin, of Dewsbury, was jailed for 18 years after being convicted of conspiracy to possess a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
Another defendant, David Butlin, 39, was handed an 18-month jail term. He and a third defendant, Rexhino Arapaj, 28, were cleared of firearms charges but Butlin was found guilty of possessing a push dagger.
The court heard that while Amin obeyed police instructions, Mr Yaqub had crouched down and as he brought his hands back up the officer was “under no doubt he was holding a handgun.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating.
The vigil will be held on Wednesday, January 2, from 5.30pm to 6.30pm, the second anniversary of Mr Yaqub’s death. His father, Mohammed Yaqub, said he expected around 100 supporters and family members to turn out for the vigil at the site where he died.
He said: “On that fateful day in January, 2017, it wasn’t one person that got killed it was Yassar’s entire family that died that day.
“I and all his family and friends are still as determined as ever to get justice for Yassar and we will never come to terms with what happened. Even though it is very nearly two years ago it seems like yesterday.”
Mr Yaqub said he expected the IOPC report to be published in the next couple of months.
He added: “We will be meeting with our lawyers once the vigil is over and our barrister, the very wellknown Michael Mansfield QC, is more confident than ever that we will be successful in our mission to finally get justice for Yassar.”