Life for 21-year-old man who ran down pedestrian on night out

A driver who deliberately mowed down a pedestrian, leaving him with a fatal head injury, has been jailed for life.

Nidal Alboraiki, 21, was ordered to serve a minimum term of 15 years for the murder of Ben Morse after being found guilty by a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Mr Morse, a building worker and Arsenal fan, died in May after being knocked down as he returned from a night out with a group of friends in Halesowen.

A two-week trial was told Alboraiki initially drove past Mr Morse, but turned his Vauxhall Corsa around and accelerated again, hitting his 36-year-old victim and throwing him on to his windscreen.

The driver sped away from the scene in Beach Street and later claimed his car had struck a tree when a recovery truck arrived to take the vehicle to a garage.

Alboraiki, of Foxhunt Road, Halesowen, remained impassive in the dock as a judge rejected his claim that his car had been "surrounded" by the victim's friends, who had been dropped off by a taxi.

Accepting that Alboraiki had intended to cause serious injury rather than to kill, Judge James Burbidge QC said:

The judge added that Mr Morse's mother, sister and other relatives had been left devastated by his death.

In a statement read to reporters by Mr Morse's sister Ruth, his family said:

Detective Inspector Ian Wilkins of West Midlands Police said: