RICARDO Linton was today convicted of the murder of Bradford taxi driver Mohammed Basharat, who was gunned down in the office of Little Horton Private Hire nearly 20 years ago.

At the time of the murder, he was on the run from police for a similar cold-blooded execution-style murder in America.

Linton was living in Brooklyn, New York, when he was arrested and charged at the age of 16 with criminal possession of a handgun.

In October 1992, he pleaded guilty to the offence and received five years’ probation and community service.

Then, on January 13, 1993, a man called Jose Rosa was murdered in Brooklyn when he was shot in the head with a handgun.

Twelve days later, Linton, then 17, was due to see his probation officer but he did not attend. He left the USA and went back to his native Jamaica.

He entered the UK on an unknown date in 2000 on a forged passport while on the run after Rosa’s murder. He was calling himself Wayne Alfonso MacDonald and claimed he was a student.  He was granted leave to stay.

He lived in a rented flat in Bradford and did much of his socialising at The Young Lions Café in Lumb Lane. He would travel to London by car to buy cocaine for his ‘drugs collective.’

After Mr Basharat was murdered, Linton was never seen again in Bradford.

On August 5, 2003, he was arrested in Jamaica by US and Jamaican police and extradited to New York to stand trial for Rosa’s murder.

He denied the offence and the trial began on October 6, 2005. The court heard that a gunman approached a stationary vehicle which contained four men. He produced a pistol and fired shots into the vehicle aimed at Rosa, who was initially shot three times.

As the four men attempted to get out of the vehicle, Linton pointed the gun at one of the other men and pulled the trigger, aiming at his head. The man jumped out of the way and was shot in the leg.

Rosa had been shot and injured and after getting out of the car he fell next to the vehicle. The gunman grabbed him before firing the final fatal shot into his head. He died in the street.

The three surviving men gave evidence during the trial and described the gunman as Ricky, a Jamaican man from whom they bought dope. They identified Linton as the gunman and he did not give evidence.

On October 19, 2005, the jury found Linton guilty of murder. Since then he has been a prisoner in the US.

He was extradited to the United Kingdom on September 25 last year to stand trial for the murder of Mr Basharat.

He was arrested by West Yorkshire Police when he landed at Heathrow Airport and made no reply.