Sheffield mum with three sons behind bars for murder dies while fighting to clear their names

Pat Sharp, who died just a few weeks before her 60th birthday, spent the last 12 years fighting to clear the names of two of her sons, David and Ashley Cohen, who were jailed over the fatal shooting of a city taxi driver in 2007.

For the last two years she was also involved in helping her youngest son, Matthew, fight for his conviction to be quashed after he was jailed for a fatal drive-by shooting.

Pat, who was well known for running Upperthorpe Cafe in Upperthorpe, Sheffield, was particularly vocal in her ‘fight for justice’ for her eldest two sons, who she claims were the victims of a miscarriage of justice.

David was 28 and Ashley was 25 when they were both found guilty of murder in April 2008, with David jailed for a minimum of 31 years and Ashley for a minimum of 33 years before parole will be considered.

Younis Khan, 53, was shot dead as he drove his black cab along Scott Road, Pitsmoor, the year before.

The execution was said to have been the result of a feud between the brothers and Mr Khan’s son, who had fired at gun at David’s home in Upperthorpe.

It was claimed that instead of calling the police over the gun attack, the two brothers plotted revenge and when they were unable to track down Mr Khan’s son, they organised for his innocent father to be shot instead instead.

They were convicted on the basis that they planned the killing rather than firing the gun.

But the pair, backed by their mum, continue to protest their innocence today and claim to have been set up.

They claim cell confession evidence given by a fellow prisoner, who was serving time with the brothers when they were on remand waiting for their trial to start, was false.

Their case was referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission after the prisoner contacted the Cohen family by phone and admitted lying during the trial in conversations which were recorded.

The prosecution witness admitted that it had been 'beneficial' for him to give evidence against the brothers during their trial because he never went to prison for fraud offences he was facing jail for.

But the case was not referred to the Court of Appeal.

In 2018, Matthew Cohen was jailed for life with two other men and ordered to serve a minimum of 30 years behind bars for the murder of Aseel Al-Essaie, 22, in Daniel Hill, Upperthorpe, the year before.

It was never proven who fired the fatal shot, but all three men were convicted on a joint enterprise basis.

Jurors heard that in the months leading up to the murder, Cohen slashed Mr Al-Essaie's brother, Saleh, in the face with some scissors following an argument about drug dealing Saleh was doing for him.

A Cohen family member said Pat’s fight for justice will continue in the wake of her death.