Two white teenagers have been sentenced to life detention for the racially motivated murder of a Muslim father-of-one who was stabbed to death while delivering groceries to his elderly mother in Wales.
Kamran Aman, 38, was killed in an unprovoked attack in Barry last summer after being targeted by the youths because, the judge said, Aman ‘was not white’.”
Marcus Staniforth, 17, must serve a minimum of 17 years before being considered for release, while a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons will serve at least 15 years. Both will remain on lifelong licence if released.
The court heard that Aman was preparing to return home to his wife and four-year-old daughter when he was subjected to repeated racist abuse before and after he was stabbed through the heart.
Prosecutors said the teenagers, who had been drinking, began shouting abuse at Aman from a nearby house. One armed himself with a hammer before confronting Aman in the street. Aman defended himself against the attacks. During the altercation, the younger defendant repeatedly used racist slurs and encouraged violence.
Staniforth then retrived a knife and stabbed Aman in the chest. Witnesses described the assault as “relentless”, with one neighbour telling the court the pair behaved like a “pack of animals”.
Jurors heard that even as Aman lay fatally wounded, the abuse continued.
The teenagers admitted manslaughter but denied murder. Following a trial in December 2025, both were convicted of murder.
Family left traumatised
In a victim impact statement, Aman’s wife, Khaleela James, said their young daughter now suffers severe anxiety following her father’s death.
“She is understandably traumatised by this and is now suffering with separation anxiety with me because she does not want me to go and not come back ‘like daddy did’,” said James.
She added: “Life for us will never be the same without Kamran and not a day goes by where we do not think of him.”
Aman’s mother, Shahnaz Aman, told the court her family now lives in fear and no longer feel safe in Barry.
She said: “I am very sad now and I think that as long as I live, I will be suffering from this grief that my son left this world.”
Judge: Aman attacked because he “was not white”
Sentencing the pair, Mr Justice Griffiths described Staniforth as “a very dangerous young person”, adding that he had turned a violent confrontation into murder and later attempted to destroy evidence.
“You are exceptionally violent and showed yourself willing to use lethal force for the most trivial reason”.
Addressing the younger defendant, the judge said the attack was a “deliberate, unprovoked, sustained, violent racist assault” carried out because Aman “was not white.”
“You were old enough to know that to cause serious injury on a stranger because of his race was wrong,” added the judge.
Detective Inspector Kath Barry of South Wales Police said Aman was a “much-loved husband, father and son.”
“Kamran was simply delivering shopping to his elderly mother when this unprovoked attack, by two people unknown to him, took place.
“Kamran did nothing whatsoever to warrant this.
“The violence could never have been foreseen and was made even more shocking by the abhorrent racist abuse used before, during and after, all captured on video footage.
“Within a matter of minutes, the lives of Kamran’s family changed forever, and they are still trying to comprehend how this could possibly have happened, particularly outside the house they have called home for almost 20 years.
Feature image: South Wales Police
