Last week Jasmine Taylor, 32, appeared in Reveal magazine talking about her devastation after the thugs who killed her beloved stepfather, Ekram Haque, 67, in a senseless ‘happy slapping’ attack were released from prison after serving a paltry sentence.
In August 2009, Leon Elcock, then 15, and Hamza Lyzai, 14, made national news headlines after they punched retired care worker Ekram in the back of the head when he was leaving a Mosque in Tooting with his granddaughter Mariam, three, in an unprovoked attack.
Ekram fell to the ground, smashing his skull on the pavement. Harrowing CCTV footage retrieved by the police showed the killers running off laughing as a terrified Mariam tried to console her dying Grandad.
Jasmine spoke exclusively to Reveal magazine about how the justice system had let her down with their lenient sentences after the young thugs pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2010. Elcock was jailed for just four-and-a-half years and Lyzai for three-and-a-half years.
To add insult to injury, last month the mother-of-two was left reeling when she discovered Ekram’s killers were already back on the streets after serving a mere two years in prison. They were released early because their time on remand was taken off their sentence.
‘The thugs who killed my stepfather uploaded their sick videos onto Youtube,’ revealed Jasmine, who lives with her attorney husband, David, 35, and their two young children in Cambridge. ‘They’ve never shown any remorse for their actions so I very much doubt they’ve been rehabilitated. In fact, I’d put money on them reoffending again.
‘My family and I will have to live with this for the rest of our lives. Ekram was a wonderful man and did not deserve to die such a terrible, pointless death. We feel very let down.’
If you’ve been let down by the justice system and would like to share your story, email message@talktothepress.com
