Humza Hussain: Teen jailed for murder outside Luton school

Humza Hussain, 16, was stabbed to death in the afternoon outside the school he had been excluded from

A teenager has been jailed for 16 years for murdering a 16-year-old boy outside a school in a revenge killing.

Humza Hussain was attacked near Challney High School for Boys in Luton, where both boys had been pupils, on 8 June, dying later that evening.

Passing a life sentence, Mr Justice James Goss said Ibrahim Khan,16, of Atherstone Road, "had shown no remorse".

"A young life was needlessly ended," the judge added.

Ibrahim Khan armed himself with a "large and savage knife"

During the trail at Luton Crown Court, prosecutor Richard Wright QC said: "The dispute between them [the victim and defendant] had been festering for some time.

"There was mutual animosity that developed. It is not easily identified and may relate to insults on social media. It may have begun as a petty adolescent grudge that developed."

The prosecution said Humza was stabbed three times in the chest in a street outside the school between 15:30 and 15:45 BST.

The defendant had armed himself with a "large and savage knife" after he had suffered a bloodied nose in a fight at the school in October 2020.

The trial heard Humza had filmed that fight on his phone.

As a result Humza and a friend had been permanently excluded from Challney and the defendant was moved to another school.

"From this point on the defendant was determined to exact some sort of revenge on Humza Hussain and his friend," said Mr Wright.

On the day of his murder, the court heard Humza Hussain turned up at the school with a metal file from his father's shed

In November 2020, Humza suffered serious arm injuries in an attack in Chaul End Park in Luton.

The court heard Khan told another youth to "shank him", but Humza was not prepared to press charges.

Flowers were left at the site of the incident outside Challney High School for Boys

On the day of the murder, the court heard Khan had turned up at the school where he was seen intimidating the 14-year-old brother of one of Humza's friends.

The boy was taken back into school, but made a call to his older brother, who then turned up outside the school with Humza, who had brought a metal file with him.

The older brother had thrown the head of a hammer at Khan, who then drew a knife.

He was grabbed from behind by Humza, but the defendant broke free and carried out the fatal stabbing, Mr Wright said.

'Futile waste'

The judge lifted legal restrictions that prevent the identification of children.

Mr Justice Goss told Khan: "It will be for the parole board to decide if you are to be released. If released you will be on licence for rest of your life."

In a victim's statement, the murdered boy's father said his son's death was "like a nightmare that does not end".

He said the loss of his "beautiful, handsome boy" meant his family had gone from "living in a world of colour to one of black and white".

Mr Hussain said Humza had passed five GCSEs and had a place at college to learn plumbing. The results came out after his death.

Bedfordshire Police's Assistant Chief Constable Sharn Basra said: "Knives ruin lives, plain and simple.

"What started as a grudge between teenagers has escalated into a futile waste of life."

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