A driver who murdered a “good samaritan” when he ploughed his car into the middle of a wedding brawl before stabbing the groom, has been jailed.
Sheffield Crown Court heard Hassan Jhangur, 25, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 26 years.
Mr Justice Morris told him: “This was a deliberate and senseless act of hot-headed and wanton violence resulting in the tragic death of Chris Marriott and life-changing consequences for many others.”
Jhangur hit five people with his Seat Ibiza when he arrived at his sister’s wedding reception, where a fight had broken out between the two families in the Burngreave area of Sheffield on 27 December 2023.
Jhangur, the bride’s brother, first drove into the father of the rival Khan family, who was standing in the street, throwing him over the vehicle's bonnet, his trial heard earlier this year.
He then crashed into a group of four people, including Marriott, 46, who was out for a post-Christmas walk with his family and had stopped to help one of Jhangur's sisters as she was lying in the road.
Jhangur, who worked as a food delivery driver, was found guilty of murdering Marriott by a jury in July – a year after another set of jurors failed to reach any verdicts in his trial.
During the trial, jurors heard the devout Christian Marriott was killed and the three others were injured, including off-duty midwife Alison Norris and Jhangur’s own mother and sister when Jhangur crashed into them.
The defendant then got out of the car and stabbed his new brother-in-law, Hasan Khan, several times.
The court heard he later told officers at the police station: “That’s why you don’t mess with the Jhangurs.”
He was cleared of attempting to murder Hasan Khan, but guilty of wounding, and convicted of four charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Alison Norris, Ambreen Jhangur, Nafeesa Jhangur and Riasat Khan.
His father, Mohammed Jhangur, 57, of Whiteways Road, Sheffield, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice after he concealed a knife.
Marriott’s widow Bryony wiped away tears as she told the court: “Chris was genuine, kind and loving. He was reliable, trustworthy, affectionate and gentle.”
“Chris was someone people felt comfortable and safe with, and was great at being a friend,” she added.
She said: “Chris was a man of faith, and his love for God and for people shone through in what he devoted his time to.
“He had a compassionate heart and loved helping, supporting and empowering others.”
Mrs Marriott said they had been married for 16 years and they thought they would grow old together.
She said he “loved being a dad, and never left me or them in any doubt of his love for us”.
She told the court: “I miss his smile and his laugh, his touch, and his wisdom and his encouragement.
“He was my best friend.”
Mrs Marriott said: “Our time as a family of four was so much shorter than we ever imagined.
“But it is my hope that Chris’s life, more than the manner of his death, has a lasting impact on me, my children, and many others.”
Prosecutor Jason Pitter KC told the jury at the opening of the trial, the “public spirit” of Marriott and Ms Norris “brought them unwittingly into the midst of a family dispute”, which had spilt out into the street.
Mr Pitter said a wedding between Amaani Jhangur and Hasan Khan, which had taken place that morning, “appears to have been at the heart of the tension”.
He told jurors that an issue arose over the timing and location of the wedding and escalated to Amaani falling out with her own mother and sisters, and none of her family ultimately attended the wedding at the mosque.
The court heard that when Amaani was at the Khan family home in College Court later, her mother, Ambreen Jhangur, and sister, Nafeesa Jhangur, arrived, and an increasingly “unpleasant” argument in the street escalated into violence, and led to Nafeesa Jhangur being rendered unconscious.
Marriott, who was out with his family on a post-Christmas walk, saw Nafessa Jhangur lying in the road and decided, “fateful”, to see whether he could help, while his wife and children returned home.
Ms Norris, who was also out walking with her partner and children, did the same thing.
The court heard Jhangur had been told about his sister being injured, and arrived at the scene in a Seat Ibiza, driving into Hasan Khan’s father, Riasat Khan, who was standing in the middle of the road talking to a 999 call operator.
The Seat then hit a group of four people in the road – Nafeesa Jhangur, Ambreen Jhangur, Ms Norris and Marriott – before coming to a stop in a nearby front garden.
Mr Pitter said Jhangur got out of the car while the engine was still running and stabbed Hasan Khan multiple times to the left side of his head and to his chest, with a knife he had taken with him.
