Chilling CCTV footage shows the moment a prisoner grins seconds before killing a fellow inmate in his cell.
Mahir Abdulrahman, also known as Mahir Mohamed, was pronounced dead at HMP Fosse Way, a new Category C jail in Leicestershire, shortly after a prison officer found him unresponsive and in cardiac arrest in his cell.
The 31-year-old Sudanese national, who had been “terrorised” by fellow inmates, was discovered at 7:53am, around half an hour after two other inmates were seen on CCTV entering the room while another held the cell door closed, a trial at Leicester Crown Court heard.
On Thursday, 19-year-old Ashirie Smith was sentenced to life with a minimum of 17.5 years in prison after being found guilty of murder.
Thierry Robinson, aged 21, was sentenced to 11 years after being found guilty of manslaughter.
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A third defendant, 38-year-old Shaan Karim, was cleared of all charges.
The trial heard that Abdulrahman had asked to move cells because he did not feel safe on the day before he was killed, with his cause of death being given as a fatal bleed at the base of his brain.
In a phone call to his mother, Karim said that Abdulrahman’s 35-week prison sentence for a sexual offence had led to other inmates “terrorising him for days”, the court heard.
Following an incident the previous day in which Abdulrahman allegedly threw water from a kettle at Smith and Robinson, CCTV showed the pair entering his cell, after it was unlocked by a prison officer who continued on their morning rounds.
In the footage, Robinson – who was found guilty of manslaughter – could be seen grinning as he and Smith made their way to Abdulrahman’s cell, where they spent around 37 seconds.
Prosecution counsel Michael Burrows KC told the court that Karim “kept watch” outside the cell, while Robinson and Smith were inside attacking Mr Abdulrahman, stamping on and kicking his head and neck.
All three defendants denied intending to kill Mr Abdulrahman, but the prosecution alleged that they “shared the intention” to at least seriously injure him.
Mr Burrows told the trial Smith and Robinson accepted they entered Mr Abdulrahman's cell, but claimed they only wanted to speak to him about the incident involving a kettle the previous day.
In the half an hour after the attack, Mr Burrows said, all three defendants returned at different points to look into Abdulrahman's cell and on two occasions, other inmates threw water at him to see if it would “jolt him back to life”.
Another inmate told a prison officer she should check on Abdulrahman, and she found him slumped in the cell, and although attempts were made to resuscitate him by prison staff and paramedics, he was pronounced dead at 8.44am.
The trial was told Abdulrahman previously had tuberculosis, which had weakened the bones in his neck.
A post-mortem examination found multiple abrasions and bruising to his head and neck which were consistent with an assault and fractures to the ribs at the back of his body which would have required force “at the severe end of the scale”, Mr Burrows told the jury.
The jury was told that, on November 25, after Smith had been moved to a different prison following the attack, he had “let slip” in anger what he is alleged to have done, telling a prison officer: “I’m in for murder, I have already dropped one body and I will take another if you keep f****** with me.”
Wyn Jones, the governor at Serco-run HMP Fosse Way, which opened in June 2023, said: “Any death in prison is a tragedy but the murder of Mr Abdulrahman was a heinous act. My thoughts remain with his family and those affected by his untimely death.
“Since the tragedy, our focus has been to bring those responsible to justice by working with the police to secure a conviction. I hope the verdicts will bring closure for his family.”
Additional reporting by PA
