Three appear in court charged in connection with Allerton murder inquiry

Suleman Khan, 20, of Sandford Road, Bradford Moor, is charged with murdering Mr Ayaz between June 30 and July 1, 2019, at Unit 2, Denholme Business Centre in Halifax Road, Denholme.

Khan, who wore a grey sweatshirt and grey trousers, appeared in custody at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court this morning.

Slim, with a short beard, Khan confirmed his name, date of birth and address to the court clerk.

Prosecutor Suzanne Paige asked the Chairman of the Bench, Mr Vigus, to remand Khan in custody to appear before the Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, at Bradford Crown Court on Wednesday.

Khan’s solicitor advocate, Fuad Arshad, did not make a bail application.

Mr Vigus told Khan: “This is a matter that cannot be dealt with in this court so it will now be sent to the crown court and you will appear there on Wednesday. In the meantime, you are remanded in custody.’

In a separate hearing at the magistrates court later this morning, a man aged 19 and a 16-year-old youth were brought up from the cells to face an allegation of assisting an offender.

Shaoib Shafiq, of Gladstone Street, Bradford Moor, and the Bradford youth, who cannot be named because of his age, are jointly charged with participating in the movement of the body of Mohammed Feazan Ayaz from the Denholme Business Centre to Saffron Drive, Bradford, with intent to impede the apprehension or prosecution of others who had committed the offence of murder, knowing or believing others to be guilty of the offence or some other offences which carry a term of five years or more.

Shafiq, a student at the University of Bradford, wore a blue hooded Nike top over a white t-shirt.

The youth’s uncle was said to be in court for the hearing.

Riyaz Shaikh and Tahir Ayub, solicitor advocates for Shafiq and the youth respectively, made bail applications that were refused.

Miss Paige told the court that in the interests of justice, all three defendants should be tried together at the crown court.

The teenagers’ cases were adjourned to tie in with Khan’s first appearance at the crown court on Wednesday.

Shafiq was remanded in custody and the youth was remanded into the care of the local authority. He must obey a 12 hour electronically monitored curfew, report at Trafalgar House Police Station three times a week, surrender his passport and not apply for any travel documents.

Meanwhile, A 26-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody at this time, as does a 30-year-old man.

Two women aged 21 and 28, who have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, are also in custody.

A number of scenes have been in place across the district as enquiries continue into Mr Ayaz’s death.

Forensic officers were seen entering a property on Sandford Road, Bradford Moor, over the weekend.

It’s understood a police cordon had been in place since Saturday morning.

One eye-witness said: "There’s a van with normal clothed officers there stood outside the property, a crime scene investigation van with two forensics officers inside, a riot van, one normal police car and two undercover police vehicles. All together there are 10 police officers there."

Another source at the scene said they saw police evidence removed from the property.

A cordon was also blocking two properties on Tower Road, Hirst Wood, Shipley, yesterday.

One resident said police arrived at around 4pm on Sunday and had been there all night.

"It's very scary," she said. "It's worrying."

Another described it as "unsettling".

He said: "They [police] seemed to be waiting outside the property for somebody to come back.”

Another said: "It's normally a very quiet road. It's a nice area.

"It has always been really nice. I've no idea why or what's happened."

While another resident added: "I was out yesterday, I didn't see any [police], until I came back later on in the afternoon, I just noticed there was police outside the house."