Huddersfield murder charge after boy, 16, stabbed to death

A man has appeared in court charged with murder after a 16-year-old boy was stabbed in the neck in Huddersfield.

Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim died in hospital after being attacked in Ramsden Street on Thursday.

Alfie Franco, 20 from Kirkburton, in West Yorkshire, appeared at Leeds Magistrates’ Court charged with murder and possessing a knife in a public place.

Following the short hearing he was remanded in custody to appear at the city’s crown court on Tuesday.

Speaking in court prosecutor Bashir Ahmed alleged Mr Franco had stabbed Ahmad after they had become involved in a verbal altercation.

West Yorkshire Police said Ahmad had only recently moved to Huddersfield from the South Wales area.

On Friday, the force said the incident was “not gang related or linked to any wider dispute between groups” and warned the public to be wary of false information circulating on social media.

Following the stabbing a cordon was put in place around New Street and Ramsden Street as officers investigated.

The scene stretched from the borough’s town hall up to the road’s junction with New Street.

West Yorkshire Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime Alison Lowe called the teenager’s death “an absolute tragedy” and urged people not to worry.

“Even though we’ve had several young people die across West Yorkshire by knife crime over the last five years, it is still a very rare event,” she said.

Kirklees Council leader Carole Pattison said she was “deeply shocked” by the incident.

She said: “My thoughts are with the family of the victim and everyone who has been affected.”

A 22-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender have been released on bail.