This is the moment a driver kills a 16-year-old boy after mounting the pavement with his car.
CCTV footage shows teenager Abdullah Yaser Abdullah Taleb innocently walking along the pavement throwing and catching a water bottle moments before Zulkernain Ahmed hits him with his Audi.
Zulkernain Ahmed, 21, has been convicted today at Sheffield Crown Court for the murder of Abdullah in a hit-and-run on June 4 last year.
Jurors were shown the video footage of how Zulkernain Ahmed’s car moved to the wrong side of Staniforth Road, in the Darnall area of Sheffield, as he targeted one of a group of e-bikes and mopeds, knocking one of the riders over a hedge.
The car then continued forward, hitting the teenager, who is also known as Abdullah Yaser Abdullah Al-Yazidi.
Zulkernain Ahmed’s brother Armaan Ahmed, 27, who was a back seat passenger in the Audi, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter.
Another back seat passenger, 30-year-old Adam Mohammed, was cleared of both murder and manslaughter and a number of other charges.
Prosecutors told the jury that Abdullah was ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’ when Zulkernain Ahmed used the car as a ‘weapon’ to target one of the riders after a dispute over e-bikes.
Abdullah Yaser Abdullah Taleb, 16, was killed when he was struck down by a grey Audi on Staniforth Road, Sheffield on June 4 last year
Zulkernain Ahmed, 21, has been convicted today at Sheffield Crown Court for the murder of Abdullah
Zulkernain Ahmed’s brother Armaan Ahmed (pictured), 27, who was a back seat passenger in the Audi, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter
Zulkernain Ahmed, of Locke Drive, Darnall, was also found guilty of causing e-bike rider La’rome Divers grievous bodily harm with intent and attempting to cause the other two riders – who have never been identified – grievous bodily harm with intent.
Armaan Ahmed, of the same address, was also found guilty of causing Mr Divers grievous bodily harm.
All the defendants were cleared of attempting to murder the three riders after three days of deliberation by the jury.
The Ahmed brothers will be sentenced on June 4.
A third Ahmed brother, Zain, was the front seat passenger of the Audi, but has not been traced by police.
Prosecutors told jurors how Zulkernain Ahmed set out to target Mr Divers, who was riding along Staniforth Road, in the Darnall area of Sheffield, with two others – one on a moped and the other on another e-bike.
Mr Divers, who refused to make a statement to police, was seriously injured in the incident, the court heard.
The jury was told that that the defendants were out looking for Mr Divers in relation to a dispute about e-bikes and Zulkernain Ahmed took a baseball bat with him.
Mohammed, who told police ‘my sole purpose for getting in the vehicle was to smoke a spliff and then to go play snooker’, was cleared of all charges.
CCTV footage shows Abdullah innocently walking and throwing a water bottle in the air just moments before the incident
Jurors were shown the video footage of how Zulkernain Ahmed’s car moved to the wrong side of the road as he targeted one of a group of e-bikes and mopeds, knocking one of the riders over a hedge
Adjourning the case for sentencing, the judge, Mrs Justice Tipples, said it was ‘a terrible case’ which ’caused untold devastation’ to Abdullah’s family.
Abdullah’s death shocked the community in Darnall.
Shortly after the incident, relatives and friends of the teenager said he was devoted to his family and would ‘light up their faces with a big smile’.
Abdullah had only arrived in the UK from Yemen two or three months before the tragedy and devoted himself to learning English ahead of starting at college in September, relatives said.
Just before the crash, the teenager had been in his family member’s shop on Staniforth Road.
The family member said he had had a hospital appointment earlier in the afternoon and popped into the store, as he often did, before heading off to get some food.
Saleh Alsirkal said: ‘His dad brought him over to change his life, to get a better future for his son, but this has happened and destroyed everything.’
Abdullah’s friend, Oasmah Thabet, said after his death: ‘To the people who would come around and just say hello to him, he would light up their faces with a big smile.’
Abdullah’s death shocked the community in Darnall, Sheffield
Mr Thabet said: ‘For something to happen like this and for your dreams to be cut so short, it’s a tragic loss for the family and it’s a just a shock that can’t be described.’
Speaking outside Sheffield Crown Court today, DCI Ben Wood, of South Yorkshire Police, said: ‘Abdullah was an entirely innocent boy who tragically lost his life after being struck by a car on Staniforth Road in June last year.
‘He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
‘The utterly unacceptable actions of the man responsible has left Abdullah’s family facing the devastating reality that they will never see their son again.
‘Their loss is immeasurable and no verdict can ever undo the pain they continue to endure.’
‘I hope that today’s outcome provides Abdullah’s family and loved ones with some measure of comfort, knowing that justice has been served and Abdullah’s killer now faces a significant sentence.’
DCI Wood read a statement from Abdullah’s family which said: ‘Our son Abdullah was just 16 years old, an innocent boy who had recently arrived from Yemen, full of hope for a safe, peaceful and productive life in England, when he was taken from us as a result of an ongoing feud that was nothing to do with him.
‘We are devastated by our loss but our faith gives us strength and we welcome the guilty verdict.’