Yaqeen Arshad: The face of Sheffield killer teen jailed for murdering much-loved dad

Judge Sarah Wright sent Yaqeen Arshad to begin a prison term of at least 14 years during a Sheffield Crown Court sentencing hearing on Monday, March 20, 2023, after jurors found him guilty of murdering 31-year-old Richard Dentith during a violent incident on Grimesthorpe Road, Burngreave, in the early hours of April 7, 2022.

The identity of Arshad, of De La Salle Drive, Pitsmoor, can now be reported, after Star court reporter, Jon Cooper, successfully applied for a reporting restriction protecting Arshad’s identity until his 18th birthday to be lifted.

As the teenager begins his 14-year sentence, here is everything we know about the set of circumstances that led to Mr Dentith’s untimely death.

The fatal altercation

- Arshad was just 16-years-old at the time of the incident.

- He was out with ‘an older friend apparently intending to smoke cannabis,’ Judge Wright stated during the sentencing hearing.

- Judge Wright also suggested it is ‘possible that at the time Richard Dentith had been recruited to sell drugs’.

- In the moments leading up to the fatal confrontation, Mr Dentith walked past Arshad and his older friend as they were stood in a bus shelter on Grimesthorpe Road, Burngreave.

Arshad subsequently began pursuing Mr Dentith, and his reason for doing this is not known.

Judge Wright told Arshad during the sentencing hearing: “For some reason as Richard Dentith made his way down the hill you pursued him, running after him armed with a knife. The CCTV from the Mosque on Grimesthorpe Road showed that you appear to lunge at Richard Dentith as he disappeared behind a pillar. You clearly deliberately thrust the knife into and indeed through his arm possibly then making contact with his chest. He ran away pursued by you down the hill. He fell and you overshot, but then turned round and you continued to try to attack him. He managed to get by you but had been fatally injured. He collapsed on steps outside the Earl Marshall Guest House.”

- Mr Dentith suffered a stab wound to his arm, which severed the brachial artery and cut part of the cartilage. Judge Wright said the injuries sustained by Mr Dentith suggested Arshad had used ‘at least moderate force’.

- After suffering the stab wound, Mr Dentith suffered ‘catastrophic blood loss’ from the wound and he bled to death, the court heard.

- A post-mortem examination subsequently concluded Mr Dentith, who was fondly known as ‘Ricky,’ had died of a single stab wound, jurors heard during the trial.

Timeline of Arshad’s arrest through to conviction

- Arshad was arrested on suspicion of Mr Dentith’s murder five days after the fatal incident on Monday, April 11, 2022. He was charged with the offence two days later, in the early hours of Wednesday, April 13, 2022. Arshad was just 16-years-old when he was charged with murder.

- During a subsequent court hearing, Arshad denied murdering Mr Dentith and he went on trial at Sheffield Crown Court, accused of the offence on Monday, February 27, 2023, by which time he was 17-years-old.

- According to a statement released by Detective Inspector John Fitzgibbons, who led the investigation, the teen refused to take ‘any responsibility for his actions’.

Det Insp Fitzgibbons continued: “[He] told numerous lies throughout this whole process, including blaming the victim for causing his own death and stating he was the ‘aggressor’. He declined to comment throughout his interview but later gave one account in his defence statement which he then backtracked on when giving evidence.”

- However, jurors rejected Arshad’s account when they found him guilty of Mr Dentith’s murder on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

- A sentencing hearing was subsequently held on Monday, March 20, 2023, when Judge Wright told Arshad he must spend at least 14 years in custody. She told the teen that the 341 days he has spent on remand will count towards his sentence.

She added: “After you have spent 14 years less 341 days in custody the parole board will decide if you can leave then or not. If they decide it is not safe, then you will stay in custody for a longer time. When you do leave custody, you will be on licence for the rest of your life. This means that there are rules, or conditions, that will be decided when you leave custody. You will have to follow those rules for the rest of your life. If you break those rules you may have to go back into custody.”

This is what Mr Dentith’s loved ones have said following his tragic death

- Following Arshad’s conviction, Mr Dentith’s father, Alan, released a statement in which he said he takes ‘no comfort’ in Arshad being at court to answer for his son’s death, because it means another man’s life has been lost and his family too have been left in turmoil.

- Alan Dentith described his son his father as a ‘much-loved son, father, brother, uncle and friend’ who was a ‘hard working, caring father, skilled sportsman and a talented chef who had many obstacles in his life to

overcome and who, at times, struggled’.

- He added: “Ricky died far too young in a senseless attack and will be sorely missed by his family and many friends. His young son will now grow up without the support of the father he loved very much. Whilst [the] verdict comes as a relief that justice has been served, it will not bring Ricky back.

“This loss goes far beyond our own family. The fact that yet another young life full of potential has been taken by knife crime on the UK streets is a sad indictment of our society.”

- During the sentencing hearing, Sheffield Crown Court was also told how the day before Mr Dentith died he told his father he was planning a birthday present for his young son, and appeared to be ‘in good spirits’.

- Mr Dentith’s former-partner Nicole Flannery said in a statement to the court that their young son was Mr Dentith’s ‘world’ and he would be ‘heartbroken’ if he could see how much his son missed him.

- Ms Flannery said their child continues to have nightmares and has started to sleepwalk in response to learning he will never see his father again, and is about to mark his first birthday without him.

Aggravating and mitigating factors

- Passing sentence, Judge Wright said the offence of murder committed by Arshad was ‘to some extent’ aggravated by the fact he disposed of evidence, namely the knife, his jacket and his phone.

- Judge Wright said she was also required to consider to Arshad’s ‘developmental and emotional age’ when determining the minimum term of imprisonment.

- Judge Wright referred to a report prepared by Consultant Psychologist, Graham Rogers, in which he concluded that Arshad has a borderline disorder of intellectual development with a specific focus on inconsistent understanding of language. She told Arshad: “You function at an age much younger than your chronological age. The results of his tests showed a level of functioning at or below the level of the average child aged eight years. That indicates that you function in a similar manner to a child in an infant school where reasoning, problem solving and decision-making will be severely impaired when compared to the ‘normal range’ of age appropriate peers. He concludes that this leaves you open to exploitation and vulnerable to the attentions of others.”

- While Arshad had armed himself with a knife and made the decision to pursue Mr Dentith as he walked alone, Judge Wright said she had concluded that Arshad’s ‘intent to cause really serious harm’ was formed close to the commission of the offence. She said: “It is probable that you were handed the knife by someone who was older than you. You may well have been influenced to carry out the stabbing,”

- Judge Wright continued by saying she had determined that Arshad’s culpability for Mr Dentith’s murder had been reduced by his ‘mental disorder,’ his developmental and emotional age and her determination that his conduct ‘may well have been affected by negative impulses’. She also stated that Arshad has a number of physical medical conditions ‘which if not treated can have an adverse effect’ upon his health and behaviour. He also suffers from depression and anxiety, the court heard.

- Balancing all of the aforementioned factors, Judge Wright told Arshad: “I have decided that the shortest length of time you must stay in custody is 14 years, less 341 days spent on remand.”