Murderers convicted of killing three men to be sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court this week

This week’s sentencings relate to two entirely separate cases.

The first is that of the murder of Sheffield solicitor, Khuram Javed, who was gunned down on Bramall Lane, Sheffield, on April 11, 2021.

The second case involved the murders of Janis Kozlovskis and Ryan Theobald, both of whom suffered fatal stab wounds during an attack carried out on High Street, Doncaster town centre in the early hours of Saturday, January 29, 2022.

Murder of Khuram Javed

Samsul Mohammed and Tinashe Kampira, both 20, are set to be sentenced for murdering Sheffield solicitor, Khuram Javed in April 2021, after a jury found the pair guilty of Mr Javed’s murder and a further charge of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life at the conclusion of a trial at Sheffield Crown Court in March 2022.

The pair are due to be sentenced for Mr Javed’s murder in a hearing due to be heard at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday, October 4, 2022.

They will be sentenced alongside two other men, Saydul Mohammed, aged 23, of Sohidul Mohamed, aged 24, both of The Greenaway, Greenhill who were found guilty of assisting an offender after Samsul was taken to a safe house in Reading in the hours following Mr Javed’s murder.

Prosecuting barrister Craig Hassall QC previously told the jury: “At around 9.30pm, on April 10, last year, Khuram Javed was shot dead by a footpath alongside St Mary’s Church near Sheffield United’s football ground on Bramall Lane. He was, at the time, 31-years-old.”

Mr Javed’s friend Kais Raja said he had alerted Mr Javed and three other friends because he was concerned the defendants and another man had been acting suspiciously around his VW Golf car and the court heard they followed these men on foot before gunshots were heard.

Father-of-two Mr Javed and his friends followed the defendants, according to Mr Hassall, and two witnesses said they saw three males running on Countess Road near Clough Road followed by five males and then they heard loud bangs.

Mr Hassall claimed Samsul Mohammed, of Wolseley Road, Highfield, produced a gun and fired eight shots, three of which struck Mr Javed with one penetrating his heart and lungs. A post mortem examination revealed Mr Javed had also been stabbed in the back causing a wound to his liver.

A friend of Khuram Javed’s, Nabeel Abdul, was also shot but he suffered a relatively minor injury to his foot, according to Mr Hassall.

The defendants fled in a taxi from an address nearby to Graves Park where they were allegedly joined by Saydul Mohammed.

Mr Hassall said that on the following day Saydul Mohammed and Sohidul Mohamed transported the 19-year-old away from Sheffield to a safe house.

Tinashe Kampira, whose address cannot be reported, had claimed he and his friends had only been ‘chilling out’ when they were pursued and claimed he was attacked by Mr Javed moments before the lawyer was shot dead.

A reporting restriction had been in place, preventing the publication of the identity of Samsul Mohammed, in order to ensure he received a fair trial in a case relating to the murder of Ramey Salem and the attempted murder of Ali al-Humakaini, aged 25, for which Mohammed had been charged with conspiring to possess a firearm and ammunition.

Mohammed subsequently pleaded guilty to the charge, however, and he will also be sentenced for that during the same sentencing hearing for the murder of Mr Javed.

Sheffield Crown Court has recently heard how Jabari Fanty, Aaron Yanbak and Ricardo Nkanyezi were found guilty by a trial jury of murdering 20-year-old Ramey Salem at a flat on Grimesthorpe Road South, Burngreave, Sheffield, on November 16, 2020.

Fanty, Yanbak and another defendant, Jordan Foote, were also found guilty of the attempted murder of Ali al-Humakaini after he was shot at Osgathorpe Park, Burngreave, Sheffield, just over two weeks earlier on October 31, 2020.

Murders of Janis Kozlovskis and Ryan Theobald

Sheffield Crown Court heard in July how Amrit Jhagra, aged 19, of Cedar Road, at Balby, Doncaster, was found guilty by a trial jury of murdering Janis Kozlovskis and Ryan Theobald on High Street, in Doncaster city centre, and he was also found guilty of possessing an offensive weapon.

Jhagra is now due to be sentenced for the murders of Mr Kozlovskis and Mr Theobald and for possessing an offensive weapon at a hearing scheduled to take place at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday, October 6, 2022.

During the course of the trial, Richard Thyne QC, prosecuting, had told the trial jury that 17-year-old Janis Kozlovskis and 20-year-old Ryan Theobald had left CoCo nightclub, on Silver Street, with friends when Janis Kozlovskis approached one of Jhagra’s two friends and they began fighting and moved to High Street in the early hours of Saturday, January 29.

Mr Thyne added Ryan Theobald threw a punch at Jhagra’s friend and after Jhagra swung at Ryan Theobald he pursued the defendant but was stabbed, and Jhagra then chased Janis Kozlovskis and he was repeatedly stabbed.

Mr Justice Choudhury previously explained the case calls for a mandatory sentence of custody for life but he has to consider the minimum term Jhagra must serve before he can be released on licence.

Mr Thyne said Ryan Theobald suffered a stab wound to the left side of his chest penetrating his heart and a lung and he died from blood loss.

Janis Kozlovskis suffered stab wounds to the right side of his neck, according to Mr Thyne, the front left side of his chest, his left armpit, the front right side of the abdomen and to his right knee.

Jhagra stated to police there had been a feud over areas and there had been previous fights and someone had previously tried to stab him and he had been beaten up.

He also told officers he had intervened to stop the fight and he had not intended to cause any harm and claimed he had been trying to defend himself.