One of Mushin Ahmed's killers sentenced for burglary '˜committed to pay back court fines'

Damien Hunt has just started a 14-year jail term after being found guilty of the manslaughter of Mr Ahmed last month while his co-accused, Dale Jones, was convicted of murder over the racist killing of the pensioner in August last year.

Hunt, aged 30, had been out on bail at the time of the killing in relation to two alleged offences. He returned to Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday to be sentenced for a burglary that occurred on June 15 last year.

Laura Marshall, prosecuting, said Hunt and two other men he refused to identify had broken into a man’s garage, pushed the homeowner’s classic car down the drive and taken £1,500 worth of fishing tackle from the vehicle.

She said Hunt’s fingerprints had been discovered on the car.

Simon Ralph, defending, said Hunt had participated in the ‘unplanned and unpremediated’ burglary so he could raise money to pay off fines he owed for previous convictions.

He said: “He was simply desperate for cash as he had a large number of court fines which he struggled to pay off.”

Judge Simon Lawler QC sentenced Hunt to nine months’ imprisonment to run alongside his ongoing manslaughter sentence.

But a second charge against him in relation to attacks on two shop staff in Rotherham was dropped after his co-defendants pleaded guilty.

Miss Marshall said it was ‘not in the public interest’ to proceed with a trial, given the 14-year jail term he is already serving.

Co-defendants Reece Short and Kieran Rice both pleaded guilty to affray in relation to the incident on March 2 last year, after Short previously admitted theft.

Short had stolen a tray of drinks from a van being unloaded outside the One Stop shop on Doncaster Road, Rotherham, but was challenged by the shopkeeper and threw away the tray.

He returned soon after carrying a metal bar and, accompanied by Rice, started attacking the shopkeeper and another member of staff.

Short, 21, of Park Road, East Dene, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment suspended for a year and 180 hours of unpaid work.

Rice, 22, of Oak Meadows, Rotherham, got nine months in prison suspended for 12 months and 120 hours of unpaid work.