Chased, stabbed and left for dead
Slough: Samater Hirad, part of a gang who chased down Sufi Osman, found guilty of murder
A Slough man has been found guilty of killing of a 22-year-old man in Southall.
Samater Hirad, 22, of Cippenham Lane, was part of a gang of four people who chased down Sufi Osman before he was stabbed in the neck and left for dead.
Hirad, who was 21 at the time of the attack, stood trial at the Old Bailey and was found guilty of murder on September 17.
Police were called at 4am on September 23 last year following reports of an injured man outside a juice bar in the Broadway, Southall, near the junction with Saxon Road.
The man, later identified to be Sufi, had been stabbed in the neck with a 21.5cm long serrated kitchen knife in Abbotts Road.
He managed to stumble along the road and call for help but paramedics were unable to save him.
CCTV footage showed four men in and around the location of Sufi’s killing a number of hours before the murder.
Sufi was identified walking along the Broadway at 3.56am from the direction of Dane Road.
At the same time, Hirad was outside the juice bar and seemed to notice his victim approaching.
Hirad made his way into Saxon Road, where his accomplices were, before returning to The Broadway.
The Slough man had a conversation with his Southall counterpart, which quickly turned into a confrontation.
CCTV captured Sufi throwing a punch and the pair fought before Hirad brandished a knife and lunged towards his victim.
Sufi ran away but was chased down, overwhelmed and knifed in the neck.
Officers recovered a kitchen knife from an alleyway between Dane Road and Marigold Road, a short distance from where Sufi was stabbed.
A complete DNA profile which matched Sufi’s was obtained from the blade, and was identified as the murder weapon.
Police arrested his killers shortly after the murder.
Hirad admitted possessing an offensive weapon but denied murder.
His accomplices Jose Morais, 25, of no fixed address, and Mohammed Yussuf, 25, of Bordars Walk, London, were both convicted of manslaughter.
A fourth man had initially been arrested by police but no charges were brought against him.
Detective Chief Inspector Rob Pack said: “This was a senseless and tragic loss of a young man’s life.
“It highlights the continuing
blight that those who are prepared to carry and use knives have on our communities. Today’s verdict demonstrates that there are very real consequences for such actions.”
The trio will be sentenced at The Old Bailey on October 7.