21/02/2007

Four men jailed for taxi driver murder

Four teenagers have been jailed for the racially aggravated murder of Asian taxi driver Mohammad Parvaiz.

A gang of teenagers beat Mr Parvaiz, a 41-year-old father-of-three, to death after being lured down a cul-de-sac in Huddersfield last July.

Christopher Murphy and Michael Hand, both aged 19, were sentenced to minimum terms of 25 and 21 years respectively at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday.

Judge Dame Heather Steel said that they had been the ringleaders in the attack.

Graeme Slavin, 18, and Steven Utley, 17, were sentenced to a minimum of 17 years for their part in the attack.

Two other teenagers, Michael Beeby, 16, and Jason Harries, 17, were cleared of murder last month, but were found guilty of violent disorder.

Beeby received a ten-month detention and training order, while Harris received an eight-month training detention and training order.

Speaking at sentencing, Dame Steel said: "Mr Parvaiz sustained a serious head wound from which he was bleeding profusely when he was attacked from the driver's side and dragged out to be kicked and beaten to death.

"Violence on this scale is savage beyond belief.

"It is not difficult to imagine the terror that Mr Parvaiz must have experienced as he lay dying on the road."

(KMcA/EF)


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