Two Sheffield teenagers have been sentenced to life imprisonment after stabbing a 19-year-old to death in a brutal murder on a stranger’s doorstep.
Earlier this month, Thomas Hardiman and Xander Howarth, who are both 18, were found guilty of murdering Adam Abdul-Basit in a savage attack in Smelter Wood Road in the Woodhouse area of Sheffield.
Hardiman and Howarth, who were both 17 when they killed Adam, chased him into a stranger’s front garden before swiping at him with a machete.
Adam desperately tried to free himself from the pair’s attack but was fatally wounded and left for dead after suffering a 15cm deep stab wound to his chest.
His killers fled the scene and Adam died on a doorstep on 8 May earlier this year, with medical professionals unable to revive him.
Hardiman and Howarth were arrested by officers and charged with murder. They denied killing Adam but were found guilty of murder on 4 December following a 12-day trial at Sheffield Crown Court.
Earlier today (22 December), Hardiman, of Edenhall Road, and Howarth, of Richmond Park View, were both jailed for life with a minimum term of 19 years.
In his sentencing remarks, the judge said a “lengthy sentence” had to be given to both defendants to reflect the “scourge of knife crime”.
Detective Chief Inspector Phil Etheridge said: “My thoughts today go out to Adam’s family and friends after he was murdered in such a brutal and senseless manner.
I know that today’s sentencing will not bring Adam back, but I hope this gives those who knew him some sort of closure as they try to rebuild their lives and recover from the grief inflicted upon them.
Hardiman and Howarth killed Adam in barbaric fashion and left him to die all alone as he bled out on a stranger’s doorstep.
“If fleeing the scene wasn’t horrific and cowardly enough, they then made Adam’s loved ones relive the events of that day by putting them through a 12-day trial after denying murdering him.
“We will not tolerate knife crime in our local communities and we are pleased that the sentence given reflects the severity and seriousness of Hardiman and Howarth’s actions.”
