Higher sentence for murderer who killed “peacemaker” during car dispute

Raami Mohamed, 22, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years at Manchester Crown Court in June after being found guilty of killing 22-year-old Badri Issa in October last year.

Mr Issa had tried to intervene after his friend Omar Jeylaani and Mohamed argued over car payments before he was stabbed in the chest.

The Attorney General referred the sentence against Mohamed to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that it was “excessively lenient”.

On Friday, judges in London increased Mohamed's minimum prison sentence to 21 years, thereby reducing his pre-trial detention.

Lord Justice Males, sitting alongside Mrs Justice May and Mr Justice Bryan, said: 'This is a case where the offender took a knife to the scene and used it to strike the victim in the middle of the chest.

“Under these circumstances, there was clearly a risk of death, even if this was not intended and the perpetrator's actions ultimately made this almost unavoidable.”

The judge said Mohamed and Kevell Blake were driving along Princess Road in Manchester and signalled to Mr Issa and Mr Jeylaani to stop their vehicle.

Mohamed attacked Mr Jeylaani as he got out of the car and stabbed Mr Issa, who tried to break up the argument.

Mohamed then fled the scene before being arrested by police the next day.

Blake, who was 20 at the time of the trial, was co-accused of Mr Issa's murder.

He was acquitted of the murder charge but convicted of manslaughter. According to the Attorney General's Office, a verdict is still pending.

William Emlyn Jones KC, representing the Attorney General, said that while Mohamed's youth had been cited as a reason for reducing the original sentence, “character evidence suggested the opposite should have happened”.

The lawyer added: “This was a mature and potentially impressive young man.

“It's a tragedy that this was thrown away because he went out with a knife and stabbed an innocent young man in the chest.

“Just because he did these things, a young man died.”

Nick Johnson KC, representing Mohamed, said he accepted that “18 years is a lenient sentence but, taking into account all the relevant circumstances, it cannot really be described as unduly lenient.”

Lord Justice Males told the court that Mr Issa's family, some of whom watched Friday's hearing remotely, had previously described him “as an anchor that held us together” and that “their anguish was heightened when the offender described Mr Issa at trial as a violent attacker”.

He added that Mr Issa's actions were described by witnesses as those of a “peacemaker”.

Regarding the increase in sentence, the judge said: “Even if it was a random incident, it is still a case in which the perpetrator had a knife with him that he could have used if necessary.”

“He didn't have to go out armed with a knife and he initiated the confrontation.”