Zakir Nawaz death: Manslaughter sentence increased

Zakir Nawaz, pictured with his wife Georgia, was stabbed in the chest

A man jailed for the manslaughter of a father of two who was stabbed to death in the street has had his sentence increased by senior judges.

Zakir Nawaz died of a stab wound to the chest after being attacked in Washwood Heath, Birmingham, in September 2016.

Warsame Ahmed Mohamed, 24, admitted manslaughter and violent disorder and was jailed for four and a half years at Birmingham Crown Court in July.

His sentence was increased to seven years by judges at the Court of Appeal.

Mr Nawaz, 21, who became a father for the second time just 10 days before his death, was pronounced dead in Highfield Road on 10 September after being set upon by Mohamed and two other men in a dispute over a minor car crash.

Warsame Ahmed Mohamed is thought to have fled to Holland after the attack

While Mohamed did not deliver the fatal stabbing, he did inflict kicks and punches to the victim.

Following the incident Mohamed and the suspected knifeman fled the country, however police said Mohamed later returned to the UK and was arrested in High Wycombe.

The Court of Appeal increased his sentence after it was referred as being unduly lenient by the Solicitor General, the Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP.

He said: "The offender acted in a way that caused harm and suffering to the victim, before fleeing justice. A longer sentence is appropriate in this case."

Mohamed had initially been due to stand trial for murder but a late guilty plea to charges of manslaughter and violent disorder was accepted by prosecutors.

In 2017, Waseem Raja Azram, 29, from Ward End, was jailed for two years after admitting violent disorder.