The family of a Bradford dad stabbed to death by a Kurdish Iraqi asylum seeker cheered yesterday as his murderer was brought to justice following five years of anguish.

Mohammed Basier, 27, of Allerton, bled to death after being brutally stabbed by Dana Abdullah in a case of mistaken identity as he left the West End Bar in Lumb Lane, Manningham.

The killer had claimed another unknown man had murdered Mr Basier as he went with girlfriend Natasha Elsworth to get a taxi home following a night out in 2004.

Abdullah fled after the killing in a bid to escape justice but was arrested earlier this year in Greece, following an international man hunt.

Javed Mohammad, who spoke movingly after his brother was murdered, was in Bradford Crown Court with the rest of Mr Basier’s family when the jury found Abdullah guilty and shouted “Yes!” when the verdict came.

Mr Mohammad, 47, said: “It has been a long time and a lot of time and effort has gone into the police investigation to make sure that justice has been done.”

Mr Basier collapsed in a pool of blood after being chased by a gang of Kurdish men, including Abdullah, in the early hours of February 22.

The married father-of-one died in hospital of massive internal bleeding caused by the single stab wound to his heart.

Abdullah’s five-day trial heard he had been “angry and upset” when he was wrongly blamed for spilling the drink of an Asian man, who looked like Mr Basier, and was punched by another Asian man before being thrown out of the West End Bar.

As he left, drunken Abdullah called back to the Asian men to fight him and went to flats in Ash Grove and Great Horton Road, Bradford, in a bid to get back-up for the confrontation that was to follow.

He also made phone calls to others to tell them to meet in Lumb Lane to take on the Asian men.

Mariwan Salih, his drinking partner on the night of the murder, told the jury his former friend picked up a flick knife from the house in Great Horton Road before returning to the murder scene.

There, among a group of about four friends, including Mr Salih, he squared up to Mr Basier and stabbed him once in the chest.

The victim staggered back past the bar and fell to the floor before being taken in an Audi car to Bradford Royal Infirmary, where he died.

In the days following the murder, Natasha Elsworth and Mr Salih, who both gave evidence for the prosecution in Abdullah’s trial, picked him out as the murderer in a police video line-up.

Meanwhile, Abdullah fled to a friend’s house in Dewsbury then crossed into France using false documents.

After a run-in with the French authorities, he again went on the run, this time to Greece, where he spent time on the island of Crete before travelling to Athens.

Police inquiries in the Iraqi community in Britain led to Abdullah being tracked down in Greece, where he was arrested by police.

A delegation of officers from West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team (HMET), which included Detective Inspector Simon Atkinson and Detective Sergeant Ian Laurie, was sent to help the Greek police extradite Abdullah back to Bradford to face trial.

Following yesterday’s verdict, HMET Detective Superintendent Dave Pervin paid tribute to those who had helped bring the killer to justice.

He said: “This was a tragedy from which the family may never recover. Mohammed Basier’s life was cut short in what was an alcohol-fuelled, unprovoked attack by Dana Abdullah.

“My thanks go to the authorities in Greece who assisted with the arrest and the extradition of Mr Abdullah. My thanks also go to all those who have come to court to give evidence in this case, under difficult circumstances.

“But most of all my tribute is to the family of Mr Basier who over the last five years have had the patience in waiting for justice and have shown dignity, respect and control in the way they have conducted themselves.”

Abdullah is due to be sentenced by the Recorder of Bradford, Judge James Stewart QC on Monday.