Ghulam Sadiq: Judge makes weapons plea after murder conviction

Jurors have been urged to write to their MPs about the "shocking" availability of weapons after a man was convicted of killing a teenager with a 22in (55cm) zombie knife.

Emadh Miah, 18, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of murdering Ghulam Sadiq by his home in Leytonstone, east London.

He was stabbed in the back after being ambushed opposite a pizzeria last year.

Judge Christine Laing KC said: "The weapon we are concerned with here has absolutely no place in this society."

She added: "I advise you to write to your MPs and ask why it is that weapons like the one you saw in this case can be bought from a website legitimately.

"These weapons are there for anybody to purchase and it is beyond me as to why that is.

"Knife crime in general is becoming the scourge of our society but at the moment people can get weapons like that - it's really quite shocking."

The trial had heard how Miah, from Solihull in the West Midlands, was staying with his grandmother in east London at the time of the attack on 18-year-old Mr Sadiq on 6 August 2022.

Miah had travelled to Leytonstone on a hired bicycle with a zombie-style machete down his trousers and his face hidden beneath the hood of a padded jacket and a surgical mask.

He made his way to Cotton Close, where the victim lived, and lay in wait, the Old Bailey was told.

When Miah caught up with Mr Sadiq, who tried to cycle away, he stabbed him in the back before replacing the knife inside his trousers and cycling away.

The judge thanked the jurors who had to watch "distressing" footage of Mr Sadiq's death during the trial.

Miah was remanded in custody to be sentenced at a date to be fixed. He is also due to be sentenced over a separate hammer attack on a 16-year-old boy.

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