A woman and two teenagers have been jailed for the brutal murder of a man in Sheffield.
Rebecca Moore, 25, Barney Griffin, 18, and Jack Douglas, 17, were sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court for killing 24-year-old Sacad Ali in Ponderosa Park.
Griffin was sentenced to a minimum detention of 16 years while Douglas was told he would be detained for at least 15 years. Moore was jailed for a minimum of 15 years.
In a statement, Ali’s family paid tribute to him as “a loving son and brother who was loved by all his family.”
Ali’s family paid tribute to him
PA/South Yorkshire Police
The court heard that Ali was playing video games at a friend’s flat when he received a call from an unknown number just after 4am on March 9. Moore, a sex worker and drug addict, convinced him to meet her in the park with the promise of a sexual encounter.
Instead, Griffin and Douglas emerged from the darkness and launched a brutal machete attack on Ali, who was a rival drug dealer.
Ali begged for them to stop the assault before the attackers fled, leaving him to die. Griffin and Douglas had previously admitted murder and possessing a bladed article, while Moore was convicted following a 16-day trial.
Judge Jeremy Richardson KC said Griffin and Douglas had been “recruited or corrupted” to enter the “fetid swamp” of drug dealing.
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Jack Douglas, Barney Griffin and Rebecca Moore
South Yorkshire Police
“If ever a case that demonstrates the twin evils of drug peddling and carrying knives, particularly young people carrying knives, this is it,” the judge told Sheffield Crown Court.
The judge noted both teenagers had an “easy way with knives.”
Detective Chief Inspector Ben Wood told a press conference outside the court: “The two teenagers murdered Sacad in a barbaric way, with Moore also murdering him by duping him into meeting and luring him to the spot where he would be brutally attacked.”
“Rather than admit her guilt, Moore then made Sacad’s loved ones relive the events of the day he died by making them endure a trial in court,” he added. DCI Wood said the result was “testament to everyone’s hard work on this tragic case.”
A spokesperson from Ali’s family said: “He was the heart of our family and was always happy and smiling. All those who knew Sacad, knew how positive and happy he was.
“It feels like all the light out of our lives has been taken.
“Our lives have been completely broken by what has happened, and we will never be able to forget.”
