Huddersfield has been shaken by the murder of a teenage boy who’d fled war-torn Syria for a better life in the UK – it comes amid a background of growing fear in a town plagued by violent knife crime
Just over a week ago, a Syrian refugee was stabbed to death in broad daylight in Huddersfield. He had moved there in the hope of a better life after his home country was ravaged by a brutal civil war.
Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim, 16, had only lived in the West Yorkshire town for two weeks, having previously lived in a refugee centre in South Wales since arriving to the UK last year.
He’d fled war-torn Syria after being hurt in a bombing in his hometown of Homs, leaving behind his taxi driving dad, mum and three sisters to chase a better life in this country, where he dreamt of becoming a doctor.
But as he was being shown around by his cousin to settle in to his new hometown, he was knifed to death in the middle of the afternoon. Alfie Franco, 20, has been charged with murder and will appear before court again next month.
The murder has shocked residents in the once-prosperous mill town, with a population of around 170,000, many of whom left flowers and cards at the scene in Ahmad’s memory.
And it has reopened old wounds in a town scarred by county line drugs gangs and knife crime.
Police said the murder was an ‘isolated incident’ and Leeds Crown Court was told Ahmad and his alleged killer were not known to each other and there was “no history of animosity”.
But it is the latest in a long line of brutal knife attacks in the town, where youth workers fear young boys are ‘lost’ and turning to violence being glamourised on social media.
In 2022, the town was thrust into the national glare after 15-year-old Khayri Mclean was stabbed to death at his school gates. Two teens were jailed for his murder after a court heard they attacked because he’d joined – then left – their gang.
Just weeks earlier, a 30-year-old man had his hand chopped off in the smoking area of a pub beer garden by two balaclava-clad youths carrying a machete.
Pubgoers described how it ‘twitched’ on the floor ‘like a scene from a horror film’ while the teens laughed as they fled.
And earlier that same year, a 26-year-old man standing outside the the same working men’s club was ambushed by a mob armed with baseball bats. He was slashed his own machete as he desperately tried to defend himself, it was reported at the time.
After that explosion of medieval violence, West Yorkshire Police say they have done a ‘significant amount of work’ to reduce knife crime.
The force says knife-related violent crimes has dropped 13% between February 2024 and February 2025.
Chief Superintendent Jim Griffiths District Commander of Kirklees Police, said: “That said, we clearly realise the concern the murder of Ahmad has caused in communities.
“We are legally limited in what we can say as a 20 year-old man has been charged with his murder and is to stand trial, but have been reassuring residents this was a very much an isolated incident.”
He said the force is conducting a massive programme to reduce knife crime in West Yorkshire through education and “enforcement action against those determined to carry and use knives”.
He added: “Those education initiatives have reached tens of thousands of children across the force area and we continue to ask for help from communities to tell us about those carrying bladed weapons.”
Katie Thompson, who runs a youth club in the town, said she is ‘terrified’ as a mother that the brutal nature of knife crime could ‘happen to anybody’.
She said: “What happened the other day really hit home, that’s the first time I’ve heard of it in a while. It doesn’t appear to be gang-related.
“I think it’s frightening that our young kids are walking around with knives. I think Adolescence has brought it home how easy it is. The day this happened, my 19-year-old son was going into town and it’s terrifying, but you can’t stop them living their lives.
“I don’t think it’s drugs or gang-related now, like it was a few years ago. It think unfortunately kids are carrying knives and just reach for them to settle differences.
“When I walk through the park I see kids and you hear the way they’re talking like gangsters even if they’re not in a gang, they’re just normal kids. But their actions and words are mimicking videos online, which I think are glamourising knife crime.
“As a mother and a youth worker, I’m terrified. It scares me there’s so many lost kids out there, it could happen to anybody.”
Major Adrian Lee of The Salvation Army is supporting a ‘fist over knives’ project run by a local boxing club to try to keep kids in the town on the straight and narrow.
He said: “We are deeply saddened by recent events in Huddersfield, and extend our thoughts and prayers to Ahmad’s family and friends.
“We know that knife crime is a growing concern among young people and their parents which is why we were blessed to be able to fund and be involved in ‘Fists over Knives’, a non-contact boxing project that works with children as young as five years old.
“The project offers young people training, discipline, focus and exercise, as well as an opportunity to have discussions about gang culture and the dangers of carrying knives.
“We hope that by educating these youngsters early in life, they’ll go on to make safe choices as they grow older and avoid having their lives and others ruined by knife crime.”
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here .