Two men who knifed a young father in broad daylight have been unanimously convicted of his murder.
Bobby Smith, 22, stabbed Muhammed Jassey in the chest during what a jury at Brighton Crown Court was told was a drugs robbery gone wrong.
Texts from his accomplice, Daryl Richardson, 26, planning a similar robbery in St James’s Street were read out during the two week trial.
Mr Jassey, 26, was walking along Whitehawk Road on the afternoon of Sunday 5 April when the pair attacked him.
Smith, of Coolham Drive, Brighton, and Richardson, of Cumberland Road, Portsmouth, will be sentenced on Thursday 19 November.
The court heard that the attack was witnessed by three people, and caught on CCTV. The victim’s blood was found on clothing owned by both men, which had their DNA on. C
CTV images showed Richardson and Smith together in the Lidl supermarket off Eastern Road, Brighton, minutes before the stabbing, wearing clothing identiifed as the same on which blood was later found.
Richardson admitted being at the scene but said the attack was carried out by another man he didn’t want to name, and that he had no idea it was going to happen.
Smith denied being the second man caught on CCTV.
Detective Inspector Gareth Hicks of the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team said: “Our investigation showed that the defendants acting together killed Muhammed Jassey.
“CCTV showed two men in dark hooded tops were seen leaving the flats at nearby Kite Place West, and the incident then happened moments later on the opposite pavement in Whitehawk Road.
“Richardson was seen to pick something up from the ground, which evidence showed was Mr Jassey’s mobile phone, and the two men ran back to Kite Place West.
“Officers quickly arrived at the scene and went to the flat where they arrested both men. The phone was found concealed in the flat and witness evidence was heard that Richardson had tried to smash it before hiding it.
“To this day we have no idea what the motive was for this vicious and unprovoked attack against a defenceless young man that took him from his family in the prime of his life.
“Our thoughts are with Muhammed, his partner, and their young children, as well as his family.”
In a statement, Muhammed Jassey’s family said: “Muhammed was a good son, our first born whose life was taken too soon.
“A kind, strong, handsome, funny, caring, loving person who always looked after people, he was also a brother, partner, father and part of a large and loving extended family. We are all devastated by his loss, we love him dearly and he will be missed every day.
“We ask that we are allowed continued privacy at this time to grieve over our tragic loss.”
