A MAN HAS BEEN found guilty of attacking and killing a work colleague – and perverting the course of justice. The murder victim was Seyed Khan, 49. The murder took place in Ilford in January.
Imran Muhammad, 31, was convicted at the Old Bailey earlier this month and returned for sentencing. He received a life prison sentence for the murder and was ordered to serve at least 24 years in jail. He was also sentenced to five years in jail for perverting the course of justice – a sentence which will run concurrently with the murder sentence.
Muhammad worked at A-Z Carpets in High Road, Ilford. He was in charge of the shop while the owner was out of the country. Khan was a friend of the owner and was helping out with some evening deliveries.
On 24th January, Khan told his family he was going off to do so deliveries. CCTV footage was later obtained which showed Khan parking in the street outside the shop and going in at around 6pm. Ten minutes later, the shop lights were switched off and the shutters were rolled down. Police alleged that during that ten minutes, Muhammad attacked Khan with an axe, causing fatal head injuries – and then tried to clean up and dispose of the evidence.
Further CCTV footage showed Muhammad at 1.20am on 25th January wheeling a shopping trolley down the High Road towards a nearby cemetery. Police alleged that Khan’s body was in the trolley and that Muhammad dumped it and other incriminating items in the cemetery.
It seems that Muhammad returned to the shop and did more cleaning up and tried to pain over blood stains. He also called the shop owner and told him that Khan had been at the shop the previous evening, before leaving to take a phone call – and not returning.
In the morning of 25th January, Khan’s family reported his overnight disappearance to the police, who initially treated this as a report of a missing person. Family members and friends then visited the carpet shop and Muhammad repeated what he had told the owner about Khan disappearing after apparently taking a phone call. After the family left the shop, Khan took a coach to Glasgow.
Police then searched the shop and – despite Muhammad’s efforts – they found traces of blood. It was not until 1st February that Khan’s body was found in the cemetery. The same day, Muhammad was found in Glasgow: he was arrested and brought to London for questioning.
As the police investigation continued, evidence was collected which was to lead to Muhammad being convicted. Police believe that Muhammad had caught Khan stealing from the shop, and Muhammad probably murdered Khan to stop him telling the owner.
Detective Inspector Domenica Catino of the Homicide and Major Crime Command led the investigation into the murder. She said, “I am pleased that the jury has seen straight through Imran Muhammad ‘s feeble lies as he attempted to deflect the blame from himself and have found him guilty of this horrific murder. From the outset, he has chosen to try and cover his tracks rather than refuse to accept responsibility for his actions – this included brazenly lying to Seyed’s family who he knew were desperately worried about him.
“Seyed was a hard-working, family man who strived to provide for his wife and children. In the cruellest of circumstances he has been taken away from his family by the selfish actions of a cowardly man.”
Seyed’s oldest son, Khalil Khan, said, “My dad was a kind, loving and caring man who would always put others before himself. His death has had a huge impact on our lives, which have now changed forever. We had such a happy, caring and joyful family. This has now been destroyed forever by an awful, heartless act that none of us deserved. We have been left with a void in our lives that can never be filled. We all miss him so much.”
•Read more about this story: Man charged with Ilford murder of Seyed Khan
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