Jordan Thomas murder: Killer spends decade behind bars but accomplices remain free

Jama Ahmed, of Broomhall Place, Broomhall, received a life sentence in 2015 and was ordered to serve a minimum of 36 years behind bars over the fatal shooting of Jordan Thomas.

The gun attack was said to have been revenge for another death three years earlier.

Jordan, 22 and from Firshill, was shot at point blank range when a car he was a passenger in pulled up at traffic lights on Derek Dooley Way on Sunday, December 21, 2014.

The driver was also shot, but survived.

The gun attack was carried out in revenge after Jordan’s cousin, James Knowles, formerly of Deer Park Road, Stannington, stabbed a man to death in 2011.

Knowles had been having a hair cut at a barber’s in the Highfield area of the city when a group burst in and attacked him.

When the disturbance moved outside the shop, one of the attackers, Ali Mubarak, was fatally stabbed.

When questioned about the killing, Knowles told police: “They came for me, it was self defence. It was not my fault, trust me...If five people come at you what do you do? I didn’t mean to kill anyone.”

Knowles was jailed for 10 years after being found guilty of manslaughter.

Phil Etheridge, the Senior Investigating Officer responsible for overseeing the police probe into Jordan’s murder three years later, said: “This was not about turf war or gang warfare, this was simply retribution for the death of a man three years before.

“Jordan was the cousin of the man convicted of the crime and those linked to the victim wanted revenge, pure and simple. Jordan was targeted by people with a score to settle.

“He did not deserve to be gunned down in the street - a young life was cut tragically short, leaving a community devastated and changing the lives of his family forever.”

Detectives established that Jordan was among a group of people involved in confrontation with Ahmed and others at a club in Broomhall in which a gun was fired two days before the fatal shooting.

When the groups paths crossed again, it was deadly.

After Ahmed was jailed, South Yorkshire Police said: “Following an extensive investigation involving numerous witness statements, interviews, forensic evidence, and meticulous review of CCTV, police and prosecutors argued that Ahmed was part of a team that targeted Jordan in revenge for the death of 24-year-old Mubarak Ali in 2011.”

The force warned that the investigation into the killing would continue “to bring to justice others involved in Jordan's murder.”

It named Mohammed Ali, Jamal Ali, Saeed Hussein and Ahmed Warsame a people who may hold vital information about the shooting. It is thought they may be in Somalia.

Anyone with information should call South Yorkshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.