Man convicted of 1997 Islington murder

21/03/2012

A man has today (21 March 2012) been convicted of the murder of a 25 year old man in Islington in 1997.  

37 year old Moheuddin Bablu was found guilty of one count of murder following trial at the Central Criminal Court. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years.

He is one of two men who attacked 25 year old Abdus Samad in Islington on 21 May 1997. The other attacker has not been identified. Mr. Samad sustained life-threateninginjuries in the attack and died a few hours later.

CPS London lawyer, Gary Dolby said:

"The death of Abdus Samad was truly shocking, with an extreme amount of violence used as he was attacked in a quiet residential road.

"He was lured to the scene and then subjected to an horrific assault because he would not mediate in a dispute between two separate groups in his local community.

"Due to the extradition procedure it has been some time since the incident occurred but justice has finally been secured and I hope that Mr. Samad's family find some comfort in the conviction secured today."

At the time of the attack Mr. Samad lived in Bow, Tower Hamlets and was the owner of a take-away establishment ‘Curry In A Hurry’ which operated from a shop on St Paul's Road in Canonbury, Islington. At 22.13 on 21 May 1997 a takeaway order was placed to be delivered to an address in Alwyne Road, Islington. That order was fake and was designed to lure Mr. Samad to the location.

Evidence suggests that Mr. Samad was set upon as soon as he exited his vehicle but he ran to the next road, Alwyne Villas before the attackers caught him.

A number of local residents saw the attack and have given evidence during the trial telling of a sustained and violent assault using weapons. The attackers wore face masks during the incident but dropped them as they fled the scene.

Mr. Samad was taken to Whittington Hospital where the surgeon who treated him gave evidence that the victim had horrific injuries, the like of which he had not seen before. Mr. Samad died at 01.25 on 22 May 1997.

The defendant was identified through a full DNA profile match found on one of the face masks dropped at the scene. It was also found that he had given his brother in law a jacket in the days after the attack. When this was examined it was found to have light blood staining which yielded a DNA match for thevictim.

Bablu was identified as the prime suspect in this case in 1997 and was located in Bangladesh in 1999. Extradition proceedings began that year but the Bangladeshauthorities ruled that he must complete the prison sentence he was serving in that country before he could be extradited.

Extradition was authorised on 5 July 2011 and Bablu was extradited to the UK on 8 July 2011 and he was charged with murder.