TWO brothers are behind bars awaiting life sentences for the murder of their cousin after a long-running family feud erupted into extreme violence in a Bradford alleyway.

Mohammed Nasar and Tariq Mahmood were today convicted by a jury at Bradford Crown Court of stabbing Sarfraz Khan to death in a large-scale disturbance behind their homes in Cecil Avenue, Great Horton, shortly after 10pm on Thursday, April 14 last year.

Two more brothers, Amjid Ali and Amir Ali, were cleared of murder but convicted of Mr Khan’s manslaughter.

A fifth brother, Sajid Hussain, was found not guilty of both murder and manslaughter.

Nasar, 32, and Mahmood, 26, were also found guilty of wounding their cousins Aftab Khan and Asad Khan with intent to cause them grievous bodily harm. Nasar was convicted of wounding another cousin, Idris Khan, was intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.

Amjid Ali, 39, and Amir Ali, 20, were cleared of wounding Aftab Khan and Asad Khan with intent but convicted of the less serious offence of unlawful wounding.

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Sajid Hussain, 33, was cleared of those offences and discharged from the dock, having been found not guilty of all the charges against him.

The trial judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, remanded the four guilty brothers in custody until she sentences them on Friday.

During the trial, the court heard that Sarfraz Khan, 35, was stabbed to death and his cousins, Aftab Khan, Asad Khan and Idris Khan, seriously wounded when a row over a mop and bucket at the family’s ice cream business became “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Mr Khan, 35, a father of four, suffered three stab wounds in violence that broke out behind the family homes and died later that night.

Aftab Khan suffered a punctured lung and other stab wounds and Asad Khan sustained a deep cut to his face and stab wounds to his chest.

Idris Khan suffered three slash wounds under his chin in an incident with Nasar ten minutes earlier.

The jury heard there had been bad blood between two sides of the extended family for some time.

Three marriages between the cousins had broken down but all parties continued to live within yards of one another in neighbouring properties on Cecil Avenue.

The problems culminated in trouble at the family business, Rossi’s Ices, on Richmond Road, near the University of Bradford.

Family member Basharat Khan thought his cousin, Amir Ali, had finished using a mop and bucket to clean out his ice cream van and so he began using it to clean out his van.

Amir Ali swore at Basharat Khan and he swore back.

Prosecutor, Alistair MacDonald QC, told the court it was a trivial incident on the face of it.

 “However, as far as Nasar is concerned, this appears to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

The violence began soon afterwards when Nasar slashed Idris Khan’s throat on Cecil Avenue when their paths crossed on the way home that night.

Around 20 minutes later, the incident at the back of the houses took place in which Sarfraz Khan was fatally stabbed.

Mr MacDonald said Amjid Ali was carrying a pole with a bag of chilli powder on the end and used the weapon like a fishing rod to throw the blinding substance around.

Tariq Mahmood waved a big kitchen knife that he swung at Asad Khan, cutting his face.

Aftab Khan said he was stabbed by Nasar.

Sarfraz Khan then said: “They’ve got me. They’ve stabbed me.”

He collapsed with a stab wound to his chest, lapsing in and out of consciousness and praying.

After his death, friends and neighbours told of their grief and shock.

One described him as a “very good hearted person” who was loved by everyone who knew him.