Batley murder: Minimum jail terms of convicts enhanced

THE COURT of Appeal has extended the minimum jail terms of six people, who murdered a man in Batley last year, by up to six years.

Usman Karolia, 20, Raja Nawaz, 19, Ahmed Karolia, 24, Nabeel Nasser, 19, Nikash Hussain, 17, and Irfan Hussain, 18, were convicted of stabbing Bradley Gledhill to death in the West Yorkshire town.

In the incident which took place on June 21, 2020, the gang also punched, kicked and stamped upon Gledhill as he lay dying on the ground.

His two companions were also stabbed repeatedly.

Leeds Crown Court, in July this year, sentenced the killers to life with varying minimum terms. However, the Court of Appeal enhanced their minimum terms following an intervention by the then solicitor general.

Usman’s minimum term of life imprisonment has been enhanced to 27 years from the earlier 21 years, while Ahmed will have to be in jail for at least 21 years instead of the previously handed minimum term of 16 years.

Nawaz’s minimum term of life imprisonment is increased to 16 years from the earlier 12 years.

Nazeer and Irfan are ordered to undergo life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years each instead of 11 years, while the minimum jail term of Nikash is increased from 10 years to 12 years.

Solicitor General Alex Chalk described the murder as “brutal and senseless”.

“These men brutally and senselessly attacked their victims, taking the life of Bradley Gledhill. Knife crime is a scourge which causes untold human misery, and I am glad that the Court of Appeal saw fit to increase their sentences today”, he said after a joint hearing at the Court of Appeal on Monday (6).