‘Evil and dangerous’ killers must each serve 34 years in jail over fatal shooting at house in Leeds

Naseer Khan and Abdullah Ullah were today told they “lacked humanity” by a judge who gave them life sentences over the death of 21-year-old Pawel Matras.

Pawel was killed and his brother Zedislaw, 32, was seriously injured after being shot in the stomach during the incident at Blue Hill Crescent, Wortley, on November 8, 2013.

Naseer Khan, of Queens Crescent, London, fired the fatal shot with a semi-automatic handgun. Khan and Ullah, of High Road, Harrow, had driven to the property in order to rob the brothers of cannabis.

Mr Justice Macduff said both men were members of the criminal underworld who lived on the proceeds of crime.

He said: “The jury were not taken in by your lies and have rightly convicted you both of murder.

“Your willingness to use the gun a second time is itself a significant aggravating feature and you are fortunate indeed that Zedislaw Matras did not die.”

The Matras brothers, both Polish nationals, rented the house in Wortley and had grown around £10,000 which they wanted to sell.

The two men drove from London in convoy with Ullah’s girlfriend Daniella Craik. Craik was sat in her car outside the address when four shots were fired. One bullet flew through the window and ended up embedded in the garden wall of a property over the road.

Craik, 20, of Carmelite Walk, Harrow, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cannabis. She was sentenced to a 12-month community order. Azhar Khan, 20, of Churchill Gardens, London, was found not guilty of perverting the course of justice.

It was alleged that he had bought his cousin, Naseer Khan, a one-way ticket to Islamabad after the shooting.

Referring to the impact the killing has had on the Matras family, the judge said: “I have been moved almost to tears by the anguish which you have caused.

“You have left a dreadful legacy of sadness. You won’t care about that. You are only concerned about yourselves. You have shown no remorse.

“You lack humanity. You are both evil and dangerous.”

After the case, Det Supt Simon Beldon, who lead the investigation, said: “The murder of Pawel Matras was a completely unnecessary act of violence which came about when those convicted tried to rob him and his brother during a drug deal. It illustrates the appallingly tragic consequences that can result when people are prepared to use firearms to commit crime.”