Bungling Brit killers given life sentences
9 Feb 2013 7:55 AM IST
Two British hitmen who went to the wrong address and stabbed an innocent teenager to death were jailed for life on Friday.
Ben Hope, 39, and Jason Richards, 38, were both heroin addicts who were paid 1,000 ( 1,600, 1,100 euros) each to murder a middle-aged family man who owed money to a shady businessman in Cardiff.
But the pair - high on drugs and wearing balaclavas went to the wrong house in the Welsh capital and murdered 17-year-old Aamir Siddiqi by mistake.
The schoolboy was brutally knifed to death on the doorstep of his home on April 11, 2010. Hope and Richards also stabbed Aamir's parents, Iqbal and Parveen, as they fought to save their son.
Aamir had been waiting for his Koran teacher and had rushed past his parents when the doorbell rang, answering the door to his killers.
Hope and Richards both pleaded innocence during their four-and-a-half month trial at Swansea Crown Court in south Wales, but a jury unanimously found them guilty of Aamir's murder.
Ben Hope, 39, and Jason Richards, 38, were both heroin addicts who were paid 1,000 ( 1,600, 1,100 euros) each to murder a middle-aged family man who owed money to a shady businessman in Cardiff.
But the pair - high on drugs and wearing balaclavas went to the wrong house in the Welsh capital and murdered 17-year-old Aamir Siddiqi by mistake.
The schoolboy was brutally knifed to death on the doorstep of his home on April 11, 2010. Hope and Richards also stabbed Aamir's parents, Iqbal and Parveen, as they fought to save their son.
Aamir had been waiting for his Koran teacher and had rushed past his parents when the doorbell rang, answering the door to his killers.
Hope and Richards both pleaded innocence during their four-and-a-half month trial at Swansea Crown Court in south Wales, but a jury unanimously found them guilty of Aamir's murder.
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