Six people jailed for life for murder of 20-year-old Bradley Gledhill in Batley
Life sentences have been given to four men and two teenagers after a 20-year-old man was murdered in Batley, giving a combined minimum jail term of 81 years.
The attack happened on 21 June last year, which killed 20-year-old Bradley Gledhill and seriously injured two of his friends.
Ahmed Karolia, 24; his brother Usman Karolia 19; Raja Nawaz, 19; Nabeel Naseer, 18; Niqash Hussain, 17, and Irfan Hussain, 17, were all found guilty of murder last month after a trial at Leeds Crown Court.
Jurors heard how the defendants "acted together as a pack" to stab, kick and stamp on Mr Gledhill, leaving him to "literally bleed to death in the street.”
Lawyers for Niqash Hussain and Irfan Hussain had asked for reporting restrictions to remain in place until their 18th birthdays, but the judge, Mr Justice Kerr, said the public interest was strongly in favour of lifting them.
The court heard how Mr Gledhill and two of his friends met their attackers by chance with no evidence they had met before, and that the defendants later bragged about the murder before throwing Mr Gledhill's phone down a drain.
Ahmed Karolia, Usman Karolia, Naseer, and Irfan Hussain were also found guilty of the attempted murder of one of Mr Gledhill's friends. Usman Karolia was found guilty of section 18 wounding to one of Mr Gledhill's friends.
Mr Justice Kerr said: "You thought nothing of killing him in the open air in public. A young child was watching. You thought nothing of the unending pain of Bradley Gledhill’s family.”
In a statement read out in court, Mr Gledhill's mother, Kelly Hubbard, said her family has been handed a life sentence as they tried to come to terms with his loss.
She said that her son has been “robbed of his life and of a future” and that no mother should have to bury their child, adding: “It goes against human nature."
Mr Gledhill's younger sister Bryony said her family’s lives are “like a jigsaw puzzle with one piece missing."
Det Ch Insp Vanessa Rolfe from the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team at West Yorkshire Police, said: “This was a horrific offence in which a 20-year-old male has lost his life following an outbreak of violence in which knives were used.
“All three victims were seriously injured with Bradley paying the ultimate price in an incident which vividly demonstrates the dreadful human cost of knife crime.
“Those involved continued to attack Bradley even after he had been wounded and was laid defenceless on the floor. We welcome the sentences imposed on them today for their roles in the joint enterprise murder of a male who, at 20 years old, had his whole life ahead of him.
“The victims did nothing to provoke the horrendous attack on them and officers left no stone unturned to identify and arrest those responsible for this senseless act of violence. Our thoughts are with Bradley’s parents and family and the other victims in this case.
“We know that the jailing of these individuals will never compensate for Bradley’s loss but we hope seeing them brought to justice may help bring them a measure of comfort and closure.”