Teens who kicked dad-of-three to death after cigarette row jailed

Rachel Cranshaw Tuesday, October 9, 2012
2:21 PM

Two teenagers who kicked a father-of-three to death after he asked them for a cigarette have been jailed for a total of 17 years.

Shahidul Islam, who was already on bail for two other offences, and Abdul Qayum, both 19, attacked Mohammed Nurr, 35, in a Hanbury Street park.

Unaware that he had sustained extensive liver damage, Mr Nurr twice refused medical assistance upon collapsing.

After spending the night at a friend’s Arthur Deakin House flat he was found dead in bed on December 23, 2011.

Islam and Qayum were convicted of manslaughter at the Old Bailey.

Judge Wendy Joseph QC sentenced Islam, of Hanbury Street, Spitalfields, and Qayum, of Hobsons Place, Shoreditch, to eight-and-a-half years in a Young Offenders Institution.

A third teenager, Moshin Ahmed, 18, was cleared of manslaughter and actual bodily harm but convicted of affray for taking part in the initial confrontation.

He was sentenced to five months imprisonment suspended for 12 months.

Mr Nurr, from Shadwell, had been out drinking at the Spitalfields Eastenders Snooker Club before coming across the youths.

Witnesses say he approached them and asked ‘rudely’ for a cigarette.

The gang then surrounded and began to push him; he escaped briefly and was chased by Islam and Qayum before tripping over some railings.

The pair then began to kick Mr Nurr as he lay on the ground, until passersby intervened and they ran off with Ahmed.

The judge told Islam and Qayum: “There was at least one kick from each of you but no more than three or four in total. At least one kick was aimed at the ribs.

“The kicks were full-bodied following a run up, with a purpose.”

The court heard Mr Nurr’s liver was in a weakened, fatty condition from alcohol use, and he died from the damage to it and resulting blood loss.