Two guilty of killing pensioner Mushin Ahmed

Damien Hunt, of Doncaster Road, Clifton, will be sentenced within the next half-hour after a jury this morning found him not guiltyof Mr Ahmed’s murder but guilty of the 81-year-old’s manslaughter.

Hunt’s co-accused, Dale Jones, of East Bawtry Road, Whiston, was found guilty of murder last Wednesday.

The pair viciously attacked Mr Ahmed, who was on his way to prayers, in an alleyway in Eastwood last August.

Jones stamped so hard on Mr Ahmed’s face that left a trainer impression, while Hunt’s DNA and blood were found on the pensioner’s shattered false teeth.

Both defendants denied killing the father of four, each accusing the other, but a jury finally convicted Hunt of manslaughter this morning following several days of deliberations.

The sound could be heard in the public gallery as the verdict was read out.

The jury had been told earlier that Jones and Hunt had been drinking heavily and taking cocaine the day before the early-hours attack.

Jones called Mr Ahmed a “groomer” — an insult believed to be relating to his traditional Muslim clothing.

He and Hunt then followed Mr Ahmed into an alleyway before launching a series of kicks and punches before running off.

The pensioner was found on the ground with serious head injuries and died in hospital 11 days later.

His wife Magaret, who had offered him a lift to prayers which he turned down, said in a statement: “He's a quiet, mild-mannered and gentle man who would do anything for anyone.

“I don't know why anyone would want to do anything to hurt him.”