'Duraab was the glue that held our family together. This senseless act of violence has destroyed me'
The grieving family of a murder victim have told of the devastating loss of “the glue that held us together”. Arshah Khan, the twin sister of Duraab, who was savagely stabbed 16 times on a petrol station forecourt in Nottingham, said that “the joy and laughter that once filled our home has been replaced with sadness and tears” since he was killed.
In a statement read out at Nottingham Crown Court, his father, Sarfraz Khan, told how the loss of his son “has left a void that words cannot describe”. Mr Khan’s killer, 22-year-old masked knifeman Haseeb Khan, was jailed for life at Nottingham Crown Court and was told it will be 26 years until he will be eligible to apply for parole.
Judge Steven Coupland described what he did as “brutal and deadly” and that he was satisfied that the sheer number of stab wounds he inflicted meant intended to kill the victim. In a hugely moving statement, Arshah said: “From the moment he was born we shared an unbreakable bond. He was more than just my sibling, he was my best friend and the pain I now feel at night is worse than anything physical.
“He was kind, compassionate and had a way of making everyone around him feel special. Now his dreams and ambitions have been cut short by this senseless act of violence and the world is now a darker place without him. Our family has been forever changed by this. The joy and laughter that once filled our home has been replaced with sadness and tears. We will never recover from this."
Following a near three-week trial at the same court, a jury took almost two full days of deliberations to unanimously convict Majid of the brutal murder of Mr Khan who he repeatedly attacked with a so-called “zombie knife” in front of the Texaco garage in Meadow Lane, close to Lady Bay Bridge.
Giving evidence, the defendant, of Wilford Crescent West, in The Meadows, claimed he was firstly acting in self-defence fearing he was going to be assaulted himself and then “lost control” as he continued to thrust the weapon into the victim during a frenzied attack in the early evening of Wednesday, January 31, this year.
After initially stabbing him four times, the murderer continued to use the knife on Mr Khan a further 12 times even though he was lying defenceless on the ground dying. Sarfraz, Mr Khan’s father, said: “"He was not just my son, he was my carer, companion and best friend and this has left a void that words cannot describe. He was the glue that held our family together and this senseless act of violence has destroyed me."
The trial heard how the defendant was driving a car down Meadow Lane when he spotted the victim sitting in the passenger seat of an Audi which then pulled into the garage close to Lady Bay Bridge. CCTV then showed Majid do a u-turn, park in neighbouring Holme Street, get out of his car wearing a ski mask, produce the weapon and repeatedly stab the victim in a matter of seconds before leaving. He told the jury that he thought Mr Khan had a weapon in his hand and was about to attack him so acted in self-defence, left and threw the knife into the River Trent before being arrested the following morning.
Prosecutor Michael Burrows KC said Majid had been in a relationship with a woman but that ended and she later became friends with Mr Khan. He said during January, 2024, in the lead up to the killing, the defendant said he had encountered the victim on more than one occasion during one of which he said Mr Khan had threatened to kill him and petrol bomb his family home and so he began keeping a knife in his car for protection.
He said: “CCTV showed him run round the back of the car and confront Duraab Khan. He could easily have run away but he did not back away at all. He took the fight to Duraab Khan and used the knife with brutal and lethal force. An independent witness said 'the smaller man (Mr Khan) put up no defence at all, it was a full-on assault, he was being attacked'."
Jailing Majid, who has a previous conviction for grievous bodily harm from when he was 13, Judge Coupland said: "On January 31, you murdered Duraab Khan who was only 26 years old. His death was a tragedy for those who loved him and I have heard moving tributes from his four siblings, his father and his aunt and the catastrophic loss they all feel.
“There will always be an empty seat at their table. Your response to questions in cross-examination showed an element of arrogance and entitlement. The knife you used was terrifying, described as a 'zombie knife,' something which can't be purchased (legally) and something that only has one purpose. What you did was what you intended to do.
“It was not a spontaneous act, you had opportunities to leave the area but you chose to carry on. Your actions were brutal and deadly and the number of wounds inflicted shows your intention was to kill him.
“You then left him there to die. You did not show the slightest remorse for Duraab Khan and the only person you thought about was yourself."
Mark Heywood KC, mitigating, argued that the starting point for sentence should be 15 years and not 25, as the prosecution argued. He said: "We readily concede that using a knife, using that knife, a knife of that size, to cause those injuries is in itself an aggravating feature.
“The defendant has always said that his recollection of the stabbing was clouded by his state of mind at the time - that he lost control. He acted out of character.”