Pair who kicked Rotherham man, 81, to death in racially-motivated attack serve first decade of sentence
Two men convicted of kicking an elderly grandfather to death in a racially-motivated attack have now each served a decade of their combined 46-year sentence.
81-year-old Mushin Ahmed had been in traditional dress and walking to early-morning prayers at his local mosque in Rotherham when Dale Jones and Damien Hunt attacked him at around 3.20am on August 10, 2015.
Jones had followed Mr Ahmed on Doncaster Road repeatedly calling him a “groomer,” which was a baseless slur.
Opening the Sheffield Crown Court which followed the attack, prosecutor Andrew Robertson KC, said of the slur used by Jones: “No doubt his word for paedophile and no doubt an accusation made by Jones for no better reason than Mr Ahmed was Asian.”
The jury were told Jones flew into a “raging fury” following a day and evening of drinking and taking drugs.
After following Mr Ahmed as he walked to the mosque, Jones and Hunt subsequently launched into their attack on the helpless pensioner near a bus stop on Fitzwilliam Road.
Jurors heard how Hunt first punched Mr Ahmed to the ground before Jones began kicking and stamping on the elderly man.
Jurors found Jones guilty of Mr Ahmed’s murder, while Hunt was found guilty of his manslaughter.
Jones, then aged 30, was jailed for life to serve a minimum of 32 years, while Hunt, also 30, was handed a 14-year sentence.
Sentencing the pair, Judge Mr Justice Males branded Jones a “racist thug” who had failed to show “the slightest remorse for the suffering caused to Mr Ahmed and his family.”
He said: “It is a shocking thing in modern Britain that a man should be attacked and beaten and kicked to death just because of the colour of his skin, but there is no doubt that this is what Mr Ahmed suffered.”
Following the attack, Jones and Hunt left the scene together, leaving a bloodied but still conscious Mr Ahmed lying on the ground in agony.
The pensioner was only found by a passer-by two hours later - by which time his attackers had attempted to hide the evidence of their crime by washing their clothes and shoes and Hunt had gone fishing to “keep out of the way” of police.
Mr Ahmed, who had lived at the same address in East Dene with his wife Margaret for 47 years, died in hospital 11 days later.
Both men accepted being there but blamed the other for being solely responsible for the attack.
Both Jones and Hunt had been drinking Sambuca and taking cocaine prior to the attack.
Speaking as the killer pair were jailed, Detective Chief Inspector Victoria Short said: “This brutal and unprovoked assault sent shockwaves through the local community, where Mr Ahmed was well-liked and highly regarded.”
She added: “Hunt and Jones have never given an explanation for their own vicious actions that evening, but the court heard how Mr Ahmed was assaulted because of the colour of his skin, a fact that is as disturbing as it is despicable.
“To cause harm to another human being because of their race, ethnicity, or religious belief is simply beyond reproach, I will never understand how anybody can treat another person in such a callous and inhumane manner.”