A teenage Syrian refugee who was stabbed to death in Huddersfield last Thursday had lived in the town for only two weeks before the attack and was out making friends on the day he was killed, his family has said.
Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim, 16, was stabbed in the neck in the town centre – the second time he had been there – while being shown around by his cousin, his uncle told the Guardian.
A 20-year-old man, Alfie Franco, of Kirkburton, near Huddersfield, appeared in court on Friday charged with his murder and was remanded in custody before a further hearing next month.
Ahmad’s uncle, who he was living with in Huddersfield, said he had encouraged the boy to go out and make friends his own age after spending a lot of time with the family during Ramadan.
In the hours before his death, Ahmad had asked to see Kirklees College, where he had been enrolled, and his uncle had promised to take him later that day, he said. In the meantime his cousin offered to show him around Huddersfield town centre, including a new supermarket that sells Asian and Arabic food, and the market.
“He was trying to make a friend, because he didn’t have friends here. I said to him, you have to go out into the town centre to know [where everything is], to know where you can go shopping … plus, you’re going to make friends,” said his uncle who asked to remain anonymous.
He had spent Ramadan and Eid with his uncle’s family, laughing and joking with his younger cousins. Photos taken at the time show a happy, smiling boy surrounded by loved ones.
“He’d only spent a few days with my kids but they loved him so much because he was a very nice boy, very lovely and kindly with the kids. He played with them and gave them a lot of time,” he said, adding that he had still not had the courage to tell his children, who are all under 10, that Ahmad had died. They had been writing letters to him in hospital.
His uncle, who is Ahmad’s father’s brother, said he had been upset to see false and malicious rumours being spread online that his nephew was a drug dealer. “He was only 16,” he said tearfully. “He was a good boy. He went from a nice family [in Syria] to a nice family [in the UK].
“We’ve been eight years here – we’ve not had trouble, not had a problem. We go from work to home, school, that’s it,” said his uncle, who works in a factory having rebuilt his life after fleeing the war in Syria.
“And that’s what Ahmad did as well,” he said, adding that Ahmad had left behind his father, who works as a taxi driver, his mother, and three sisters in his home town of Homs.
Ahmad was loved by his schoolmates and teachers back home and had achieved the top maths grades in his class. He loved school, the uncle said, “that’s why he came here. He wished to be a doctor, to save people.”
The teenager had been living in a refugee centre in Swansea where he was well liked, his uncle said, from his arrival in the UK in October last year until 20 March, when he moved to Huddersfield.
The staff at the centre and Ahmad’s social worker had contacted the uncle saying they were heartbroken Ahmad had been killed. “They were crying for Ahmad, they said they loved him.”
He said staff had previously told him how they had “never seen him happy like this” when they called at Eid.
His family had been left feeling frightened, afraid of knocks on the door. “I’ve been [in Huddersfield] eight years. I thought it was a safe place. I didn’t worry before, like now.”
However, he praised the community for rallying round for a child they had never met, raising money and leaving flowers at the scene.
A fundraising page to help pay for Ahmad’s body to be repatriated to Syria has raised more than £10,000. It was set up by Maneer Siddique, who owns a tailoring business in the town.
Like many who have donated and offered other support, he said he did not know Ahmad or his family. Siddique said: “You would want help if you were in a dire situation, so why shouldn’t you help somebody else in a dire situation?”
