Severed thumb murderer jailed for 30 years

Mahmood Ahmad’s left thumb was caught on CCTV falling, possibly from a bird’s beak, to the ground in Ilford, east London, where it was found by a security guard on March 10 last year.

Three days earlier, Mr Ahmad, 41, a fast food worker, had vanished from outside his home in Watford, Hertfordshire.

He had been kidnapped by Mohammed Riaz, 34, and taken to an address in Ilford, where he was tortured for information on the whereabouts of Riaz’s estranged wife.

Police believe he was hacked to pieces, possibly with a butcher’s saw, but his body has never been found. It is thought a bird may have picked up the severed thumb and flown off with it.

Mr Ahmed was one of only two relatives who knew where his sister Nahid Ahmad was hiding after she fled her violent husband, who had threatened to kill her family after kidnapping his children and assaulting her in 2008.

An Independent Police Complaints Commission report last week criticised officers from Nottinghamshire Police and the Met for not thoroughly investigating complaints Riaz was terrifying his wife and family and revealed that officers had missed opportunities to trace him after he failed to attend for questioning in July 2008, eluding police while continuing to terrorise his wife and her family.

Yesterday, at St Albans Crown Court, Mr Justice Cooke jailed Riaz for life with a minimum 30-year term.

Mr Ahmad’s wife Farah, said: “It is heartbreaking and devastating to know what this innocent, blameless man had to suffer.

“I am pleased that the people who are responsible for murdering my husband in the most brutal way will be spending a very long time behind bars.”

The widow, who married Mr Ahmad in 2008, paid tribute to her husband. whom she said was the “kindest and most selfless” person she knew.

“What drew me towards him was his kindness. He was a caring and loving man. Our wedding day was one of the happiest days of my life and Mahmood and I were looking forward to our life together.”

Riaz, of no fixed address, was also convicted of kidnap, false imprisonment and three counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

His brother Sharif Mohammed, from Ilford, was jailed for 26 years for murder, false imprisonment and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice .

His sister Sabra Sultana, 36, from Ilford, was sentenced to three years for perverting the course of justice.

Faisal Chowdhury, 18, from Newham, and Arnold Yousaf, 19, from east London, were sentenced to three years and six months for kidnap and false imprisonment.

Amirzada Hussain, 37, from east London, was found guilty of manslaughter, false imprisonment and one count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. He was jailed for 12 years.