What sentences could Asghar Badshah kidnappers and killer get?

Qaisar Shah, 36, from Bradford has admitted the manslaughter of Mr Badshah, 39, who was kidnapped from Mayo Road in the early hours of November 30, 2019, and his body found in a disused building in Batley nearly a month later on December 29.

Shah, along with Sabbah Shahmuradi, 36, from Woking, and Liam Buckley, 34, from Sunningdale, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap Mr Badshah.

Shah also admitted conspiracy to possess criminal property, an offence Sobia Syed, 37, from Great Horton, also pleaded guilty to.

Shah had already admitted his offences, but Shahmuradi, Buckley and Syed all pleaded guilty in a hearing at Bradford Crown Court on Wednesday.

The quartet will now be sentenced for their crimes – which all relate to Mr Badshah’s death – on Tuesday, February 8, by the Recorder of Bradford Richard Mansell QC at Bradford Crown Court.

Police at the scene where Mr Badshah's body was found in Batley

But what sentences can they expect to receive? Below we’ve broken down the law on each offence to give an idea of what kind of punishment each defendant could get.

As all defendants pleaded guilty before the trial began they are entitled to some credit – a reduction in sentence length – which is likely to be between 25 and 10 per cent.

Manslaughter

It is only Shah to be sentenced for manslaughter, he had been charged with murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge.

There’s two kinds of manslaughter in law, voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary is where the offender intended to kill or cause really serious harm but it not guilty of murder due to provocation or mental incapacity, while involuntarily is where death is not intended but caused by an unlawful act or gross negligence.

The maximum sentence that can be handed down for manslaughter is life, the minimum is a community order. As Shah’s plea has been accepted when he was charged with murder, it’s likely his sentence will be towards the higher end.

After Judge Mansell has heard the facts of the case and legal arguments from both parties, including an aggravating or mitigating factors, it’s up to him to decide the sentence based on the guidelines and law.

Mr Badshah's body was found a month after he was kidnapped

Conspiracy to kidnap

The three men face this charge, and it’s considered a serious offence. They have admitted acting together to kidnap Mr Badshah – with the kidnapping leading to his unlawful death.

There is no maximum sentence for conspiracy to kidnap, so the men could be looking at serious jail time.

As with manslaughter, after hearing the facts of the case Judge Mansell will consider any aggravating or mitigating factors relating to the offence and offenders, before deciding on the sentence.

Conspiracy to possess criminal property

Deemed a money laundering offence, the punishment for this ranges from, at the lowest level, a fine, up to a maximum of 14 years imprisonment.

There are factors to consider in deciding Shah and Syed’s culpability – level of responsibility – in the case. If one or both played a leading role in the offence, or there is evidence of sustained criminality then it would be high culpability.

If they had a limited role, were coerced into involvement, or this was a ‘one off’ offence, its lesser culpability. If it’s a bit of both, then it’s medium.

Next the Judge will look at harm, which is split into two sections. The first is decided by the amount of money involved, with the highest category being £10 million-plus, the lowest being less than £10,000.

The second half is taking into account the level of harm associated with the underlying offence to determine if the starting point for a sentence needs increasing.

These combine to decide the length of the sentence handed down – again once aggravating and mitigating factors have been considered.