June 20, 2013

Bungling hit men convicted of schoolboy's murder

BY: AP Staff Writer FEBRUARY 1, 2013 | MODIFIED: FEBRUARY 1, 2013 AT 12:47 PM
Leave a comment
Photo -   From left, Miriam, Umbareen and Nishat Siddiqi arrive at Swansea Crown Court for the trial of Ben Hope and Jason Richards who were on trial for the murder of Aamir Siddiqi, in Swansea Wales, Friday Feb. 1, 2013. Two bungling British hit men who went to the wrong address and stabbed a teenager to death instead of their intended victim were convicted of murder Friday. Prosecutors said Ben Hope, 39, and Jason Richards, 38, were paid 1,000 pounds ($1,600) each to kill a man who owed money to an underworld businessman. But the pair, both heroin addicts, killed 17-year-old Aamir Siddiqi on his doorstep instead. Hope and Richards also attacked the teen's parents as they tried to save their son, who had wanted to be a lawyer. (AP Photo/Anthony Stone/PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT
From left, Miriam, Umbareen and Nishat Siddiqi arrive at Swansea Crown Court for the trial of Ben Hope and Jason Richards who were on trial for the murder of Aamir Siddiqi, in Swansea Wales, Friday Feb. 1, 2013. Two bungling British hit men who went to the wrong address and stabbed a teenager to death instead of their intended victim were convicted of murder Friday. Prosecutors said Ben Hope, 39, and Jason Richards, 38, were paid 1,000 pounds ($1,600) each to kill a man who owed money to an underworld businessman. But the pair, both heroin addicts, killed 17-year-old Aamir Siddiqi on his doorstep instead. Hope and Richards also attacked the teen's parents as they tried to save their son, who had wanted to be a lawyer. (AP Photo/Anthony Stone/PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT

LONDON (AP) — Two bungling British hit men who went to the wrong address and stabbed a teenager to death instead of their intended victim were convicted of murder Friday.

Ben Hope, 39, and Jason Richards, 38, were paid 1,000 pounds ($1,600) each to kill a man who owed money to an underworld businessman, prosecutors said.

But the pair, both heroin addicts, killed 17-year-old Aamir Siddiqi on his doorstep instead. Hope and Richards also attacked the teen's parents as they tried to save their son, who had wanted to be a lawyer.

A jury at Swansea Crown Court unanimously found the pair guilty of Siddiqi's 2010 murder in Cardiff, Wales. The two also were convicted of the attempted murder of Siddiqi's parents.

Prosecutors said the killers, former prison cellmates, had acted with "staggering incompetence."

After carrying out the attack at a house on the wrong street, Hope drove away from the crime in a stolen car. It was found abandoned, covered in his fingerprints and the victim's blood.

Richards denied being at the scene of the murder, but the jury did not believe him.

The murdered teen's sister, Umbareen Siddiqi, said Aamir had been "the heartbeat of our family."

"On the 11th of April 2010, a house which was previously filled with love and laughter was brutally destroyed by the callous, vicious attack on our parents and our brother," she said outside court. "Within seconds our lives changed forever.

"Aamir was a beautiful person with a bright future. If he was still with us, he would be looking forward to turning 21 this year and completing his law degree."

Judge John Royce said a life term in prison was inevitable when the two men are sentenced Feb. 8.

Father Iqbal Siddiqi, 70, said his son had been "everything in my life."

"With his departure, life has become very empty and somewhat meaningless," he said.

View article comments Leave a comment

More from washingtonexaminer.com

From the Weekly Standard

  • June 17, 1953

    Today, speaking at the Brandenburg Gate, President Obama paid appropriate tribute to the brave East Germans who rebelled 60 years ago against Communist dictatorship:

    Read More...
  • Problems of the Second Generation

    The Boston Marathon bombings highlighted, once again, the challenges of assimilating Muslim youth. And while the onus of accountability ought not rest exclusively on Muslim Americans, it...

    Read More...
  • Release Osama Bin Laden’s Files on Taliban

    The Obama administration announced on Tuesday that it was moving forward with its attempt to negotiate with the Taliban, which has opened a long-awaited political office in Doha, Qatar. The...

    Read More...