Gun killer who could have set off riot gets life

Sentencing Afzal Arif at Leeds Crown Court yesterday, the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier QC, said the shooting of a black man, Gavin Clarke, by an Asian on August 8 last year led to tensions in the community in Leeds that night requiring his rapid detention.

It had followed a weekend “when London burned” and August 8 and 9 were days of rioting and widescale public disorder in other cities.

“This event could so easily have sparked very serious rioting in Leeds and it is a tribute to the quality of both the leaders of our local communities and the West Yorkshire Police that the initial reaction to this incident was quickly quelled and further trouble did not develop,” he said.

Those tensions were still evident yesterday when within minutes of the judge completing his sentence of Afzal and four others who helped him after the shooting, there were angry scenes outside the court as supporters of the defendants clashed with Mr Clarke’s friends and relatives.

Police officers already present at the hearing had to call for help to quell the disturbance and it was later confirmed one man was arrested on suspicion of assault.

Arif, 24, of Elford Grove, Harehills, Leeds was found guilty by a jury on Friday of murdering Mr Clarke, 34, a fitness enthusiast and boxer, who was gunned down in Savile Avenue, Chapeltown, after training in a nearby park.

Judge Collier told him: “It remains unclear to me precisely what the reason for that was. It may be that he was putting pressure on you about your relationship with his niece. More likely it had something to do with his knowing that you were selling drugs, and it may be that he was trying to take some financial advantage from that knowledge.”

He said he rejected Arif’s evidence that Mr Clarke had demanded £10,000 from him. “Whatever was the true issue running between the two of you, on that Monday you arranged to be supplied with a sawn-off shotgun.”

Having scouted out Mr Clarke in the park he drove past enticing him to follow and when he did parked up and pointed the gun at him.

“When he continued to come towards you, you shot him in the head and neck when he was about seven metres away from you.”

The judge said that was at 6.30pm, a time when children were playing in the streets. Arif then involved friends and relatives in his attempt to escape justice and had disposed of the gun which had never been recovered.

“I can have no certainty that the sawn-off shotgun is not out there somewhere, available for use again with equally devastating effect.”

He told Arif, who admitted conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, that he must serve a minimum of 33 years less time spent on remand, telling him he regarded him as a dangerous person.

Mr Clarke, who worked as a supervisor for the local authority and was about to be promoted, was hit in the head and neck by more than 70 pellets and died four days later.

The judge said he had read of the devastating effect his death had on his partner, children and family.

Four other men were sentenced for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Sohail Mahmood, 28, of Savile Road, Chapeltown, was jailed for three and a half years and Ibrar Din, 24 of Mexborough Street, Chapeltown, was jailed for four years. They were convicted by the jury.

Bilal Bakhat, 24, of Easterly Road, was jailed for three years and Arif’s uncle Saeed Hussain, 28, of Harrogate Road, Alwoodley, Leeds, for 40 months after they admitted the charge.