Murdered in UK, boy who fled Taliban

AN innocent boy who sought refuge in Britain after the Taliban killed his father and tried to kidnap him was stabbed to death in a mistaken identity attack.

Rishmeet Singh, 16, was knifed 15 times in a 27-second assault in Southall, west London, on November 24, 2021.

The victim fled Jalalabad, Afghanistan, with his mother in October 2019 for the safety of the UK. He had hoped to become a police officer.

Vanushan Balakrishnan and Ilyas Suleiman, both 18, were convicted of murder this week at the Old Bailey after going out armed with knives to find a victim from a rival gang. The court heard Rishmeet was not in any gang.

Judge Sarah Munro told the killers: ‘You will both face life imprisonment.’

The pair will be sentenced on April 28.