Man convicted after death of pensioner following random attack at Birmingham bus stop
A man who left an 82-year-old with fatal injuries after shoving him to the ground in a random attack at a Birmingham bus stop has been convicted of his killing.
Muntahar Ahmed was convicted of the manslaughter of Allen Karem Chand, having pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday, and is due to be sentenced at a later date.
The court heard how Ahmed, 44, of no fixed address, had grabbed Mr Chand’s walking stick and then pushed him off the kerb on Soho Road, Handsworth, at around 3.30pm on January 14 last year.
He then walked off, leaving Mr Chand in the road with a fractured skull and significant bleed on the brain as passers-by raced to the grandfather’s aid.
Mr Chand was rushed to hospital but nothing could be done to save him, and he was confirmed dead five days later.
West Midlands Police said it had already identified 44-year-old Ahmed as the attacker after reviewing CCTV in the area and carrying out other enquiries.
The force then acted on information from the Business Improvement District (BID) and detained Ahmed, who was back on Soho Road, two days after the attack.
He was initially charged with wounding which was changed to manslaughter following Mr Chand’s death.
The force also said it was established that Ahmed and Mr Chand, who had a trolley with him, did not know each other and had made their separate ways to the number 74 bus stop and, within a minute, Ahmed had become violent towards Mr Chand.
In a tribute his family said: "Our father was loving, caring, and never deceived anyone. He taught us to respect the law as an ex-army man, and we will always miss him.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Jesus said whoever believes in me, though he may die he shall live.
"Our father is not physically with us but he is alive with Lord Jesus."
Detective Sergeant Joanne Potter, from the West Midland Police homicide unit, said: “This was an unnecessary act of violence which led to the tragic death of an 82-year-old man.
“They had been at the same bus stop for less than a minute when Ahmed grabbed at Mr Chand’s walking stick and pushed into the road.
"He sustained serious injuries from which he sadly had little chance of surviving.
“It remains unclear what prompted this attack, but it’s clear this was not an act of self-defence.
"There was no need for Ahmed to do what he did, and it has ultimately cost an elderly man his life.”
