Thirty two-year-old Bradford resident Tanveer Ahmed has admitted killing a 40-year-old Glasgow shopkeeper Asad Shah.
Tanveer Ahmed was arrested a day after Shah was murdered. Shah, who was a member of the Ahmadi community, had posted a message on Facebook wishing a happy Easter to his customer hours before he was stabbed.
Asad Shah was a well-known figure in the Shawlands area of GlasgowAhmed pled guilty to the murder at a hearing at Glasgow High Court, claiming that Shah had “disrespected” Islam.
After his arrest, Ahmed had released a statement through his lawyer saying that he had killed Shah because he had claimed to be a prophet. Evidence gathered showed that Shah had posted some videos online that could be seen as him claiming he was a prophet.
"It so offended his [Ahmed's] feelings and faith that he had to kill him," advocate deputy Iain McSporran told the court.
The court heard that Ahmed drove from Bradford to Glasgow on the day of the murder and engaged in a discussion with Shah at his store. Ahmed then pulled out a knife and stabbed Shah.
“This was a truly despicable crime, motivated, it seems, by your sense of offence at a man's expression of his religious beliefs, which differ from yours,” the judge told Ahmed. “Let me be clear - there's no justification whatsoever for what you did.”
After the attack, Shah's brother and a coworker tried to save his life, but his wounds proved to be fatal. Meanwhile, Ahmed sat at a bus stop and waited to be detained by the police.
Shah was born in Rabwah, but moved to Scotland in 1998 after which they were granted asylum by the UK.
This story originally appeared on the BBC
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