Man 'lured to his death' by woman after being caught dealing on teenagers' turf

A Sheffield man was lured to his death by a woman as two armed teenage boys lay in wait.

Sacad Ali was stabbed and killed at the city's Ponderosa Park on March 9 after being lured there by "bait" Rebecca Moore. Her accomplices, Barney Griffin, 18, and Jack Douglas, 17, lay in wait to attack.

Sheffield Crown Court heard on Monday, November 25 that Sacad received a call from Moore - who was at a property in Spring Vale Walk - while he was spending the evening with a friend. Prosecutor Simon Kealey KC told the court that Moore, 25, arranged to buy drugs from Mr Ali. Mr Kealey said she was overheard asking for a "0.2" which was understood to be a reference to the purchase of drugs.

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The barrister said: "All three [defendants] went to the far end of the kitchen out of ear shot and seemed to be discussing something. Mr Douglas then said they were going out for 10 minutes an both he and Mr Griffin left their phones when they left the house."

The court heard that both teenagers were operators on the "Frank" drugs line, and Mr Ali was also a known drug dealer. Mr Kealey said: "Just after the call ended footage captured the three walking in the direction of the property into Addy Drive. A few minutes later, Moore called Mr Ali again and he put the phone on loud speaker and told his friend to listen to her sexy voice.

"She asked when he was coming and he said he would meet her at Oxford Street...Arrangements had been made to meet...She said in evidence that she was told by Griffin and Douglas to message the Frank Line when Mr Ali left and she said she did so.

"Arrangements were intended to make Mr Ali think they were going to meet for some sort of sexual activity because after the call he asked for a condom from his friend. It's the prosecution's case that the calls were to lure him out so he could be attacked."

The court heard sex worker Moore met Mr Ali at the park, before Griffin and Douglas attacked him. She watched "for a few seconds" before walking out of sight.

Footage of the incident was played to the courtroom on Monday and Mr Ali could be seen on the clip "backing away" as he was stabbed by the two teenagers. Douglas is now able to be named following an application by YorkshireLive to lift a reporting restriction prohibiting his identity from being published.

The court heard residents nearby heard "screaming" close to the time of the attack, which took place at around 4.26am. Mr Kealey said Griffin and Douglas "repeatedly" stabbed Mr Ali, and "hit out" at him. He said: "He appeared to back away, holding a weapon out in front of him.

"One lady had been asleep in bed with her partner when she was woken up by her dogs barking and she saw three men in an argument and all had weapons. At one point, one man fell to the floor, using his legs to protect himself. She heard him screaming for help and saying, 'Alright lads now I'm hurt, leave it.' Mr Ali's friend had also heard screaming and he looked out of his window and saw him walking backwards and two people advancing on him.

"One of the two had a big knife and Mr Ali was saying, 'Please leave me alone.'"

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Despite extensive work from the emergency services, Mr Ali was tragically pronounced dead at the scene. The court heard both Griffin and Douglas were later seen on CCTV in the area. An ambulance crew had also spotted them in the area wearing balaclavas and face coverings and a member said they "appeared to be scanning the area, so much so that they walked into the side of the ambulance."

Mr Kealey said a number of CCTV cameras caught Douglas, Griffin and Moore, walking back to the Spring Vale Walk property together. The teenage boys handed themselves into police on March 12. They answered "no comment" in their interviews, but went on to admit murder and having an article with a blade or point.

Moore was arrested on the same day - despite trying to give officers a fake name. She asked them: "Why am I under arrest? I'm a drug user, not a murderer and I told you my working girl name because I am a working girl."

She was interviewed on three occasions and gave officers a pre-prepared statement denying she had instructed anyone to harm Mr Ali, and denying any knowledge of the harm caused to him. In another interview, she admitted being at the property in Spring Vale Walk and asking the boys for crack cocaine. Mr Kealey said: "She said they only had brown and gave her a number to call, and the man was named Ghost. She called him and arranged to meet him.

"She said she met him and he asked if she did sex work and she said she walked to the park and two boys ran at him and she went back and on the way bumped into Douglas and Griffin and asked where they had been. She said she had bought drugs off him [Mr Ali] before. She said she didn't know the other two."

The court heard that during her remand Moore made a number of comments about the murder to prison officers and an inmate, including one where she said she "didn't do the murder" but "it was her two boys who stabbed the man in the leg as he shouldn't have been selling on her turf."

She was found guilty of murder following her trial at Sheffield Crown Court in October. She had previous convictions on her record and was the subject of a community order and a warrant issued for her arrest at the time of Mr Ali's murder. Neither Griffin or Douglas had previous convictions on their record.

Mitigating for Griffin, of Dixon Drive, Sheffield, Nick Rhodes KC, told the court a psychological report and pre-sentence report had been carried out. He said a number of references and letters had also been handed to the court.

Mr Rhodes said: "You will see there is another person behind the one that one sees and hears of in this case as there so often is and if only the other people understood that you can't just turn the key and someone comes back to life. I will submit that this was not a sustained attack.

"The knife came from the property from which they were dealing drugs...His remorse if not just for the death of this young man - he knows the shame he has brought on his own family and Mr Ali's family. In his letter to you, he says he takes some ownership and responsibility [for the offence] and he understands he has to serve his time."

For Douglas, formerly of Brightholmlee Lane, Wharncliffe Side, Richard Thyne KC, told the court his client was "intoxicated" at the time, and there was no intention to kill. He said Douglas has ADHD and urged Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson to consider "the affect of that." He said: "Although he was involved in dealing, there was evidence in the report that he has been identified by the author as someone at risk of criminal exploitation by others.

"He had been referred to the Amber Project and the case closed in August 2023. Having committed this terrible offence, our submission is that since then he has done everything in his power to seek to do what is right and proper...He handed himself in."

Mr Thyne said Douglas has "feelings of shame and remorse and sorrow for the harm he has caused to Mr Ali, his family and more widely." The barrister said: "He says in the pre-sentence report that no matter what sentence he receives it will not make up for what he did."

Mitigating for Moore, of no fixed abode, Mathew Sherratt KC said a report from a doctor had been given to the court. He said one of the issues he wished to highlight during his submissions was Moore's role, which he described as "bait." He said she was "heavily intoxicated" on the night of the murder and "probably" under the influence of drugs.

The barrister said: "She's been convicted of intent to cause really serious harm and that is consistent with the evidence. The jury did not have to decide the issue of what point she became aware the boys were armed. She has a diagnosis of ADHD. She has had contact with the mental health services since she was 14 and has had addiction issues in relation to alcohol since she was 14. She has been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder and borderline personality disorder which does manifest itself with impulsive behaviours and sometimes inappropriate anger."

His Honour Judge Richardson told all three defendants he would sentence them on Thursday as he has to make a "number of difficult decisions" including the minimum amount of time they will spend behind bars.