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Killer Mark Graham gets 15 years in jail

Mar 15 2009 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

A SAVAGE killer serving life for beating an elderly scrap collector to death has been condemned to spending at least 15 years behind bars by a top judge.

Mark Graham, 33, and his fellow killers Stephen Ham and Jonathan Embleton set upon frail and defenceless Middlesbrough pensioner Mohammed Sharif as he tried to stop them stealing from the cache of electrical goods he had hoarded, London’s High Court heard.

After 70-year-old Mr Sharif confronted the raiders in his garden in the April 1999 attack, he was subjected to an appalling beating, in which Graham was the ringleader.

The trio ran off, leaving Mr Sharif prone on the ground, where he died six hours later from asphyxiation.

He choked to death from severe blows to his neck and he also had four broken ribs, a fractured eye-socket and bruises all over his arms, legs and body.

The three attackers were convicted of Mr Sharif’s murder at Middlesbrough Crown Court in November 2000 and were each jailed for life.

After reviewing the case in a new hearing last Thursday, High Court judge Mr Justice Davis has ruled that Graham, formerly of Stamford Street, Middlesbrough, must serve a minimum jail tariff of 15 years for his crime.

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