"The blow was delivered with severe force"
Mohammed Qasim, aged 24, of Saltley, Birmingham, received a life sentence for stabbing a man to death in a drug deal ambush gone wrong.
Qasim fatally stabbed Richard Hopley inside a Volkswagen Passat in Harborne on September 22, 2022.
The drug addict and three other men intended to rob a dealer, having called the target to Underwood Close.
They waited for over half an hour before Mr Hopley pulled up in the Passat. He had been driving the drug dealer around Birmingham.
Qasim got in the front passenger, brandished a knife and demanded the dealer to hand over his quantity of drugs.
As he went to leave, Mr Hopley grabbed him and lost control of the car which veered onto a grass verge.
Qasim then demanded cash as well.
At this point, Nicholas Stallard ran to the Passat and tried to lean in and grab the keys from the ignition.
Mr Hopley reversed causing him to be dragged backwards with the car. Hayles approached to help and smashed the driver’s window.
Judge Paul Farrer KC, said: “As those things were taking place, Qasim was still in the car and was panicking.
“In those circumstances, he lunged towards Mr Hopley with the knife and stabbed him to the left side of his chest.
“The blow was delivered with severe force such that it severed Mr Hopley’s fifth rib before entering his heart.”
As the group ran off, Qasim fled.
Mr Hopley was able to drive off but soon collapsed at the wheel and crashed into a parked Mercedes. He died at the scene.
The judge said Qasim fled to Pakistan but returned to the UK around a year later “believing he could lie his way out of trouble”.
Qasim claimed he knew nothing of the plan to rob the dealer.
He alleged that the dealer was responsible for accidentally stabbing Mr Hopley in a bid to defend the attacks on the car.
Judge Farrer said Qasim played a “central role” in the drug deal ambush.
He concluded that at the time of the stabbing he had “intended to kill” Mr Hopley but accepted he had not pre-mediated his murder.
The judge acknowledged Qasim was a vulnerable drug addict and had been “exploited” by the rival dealer who had planned the robbery.
Qasim was convicted of murder and conspiracy to rob.
He received a life sentence and must serve at least 30 years in prison.
Two other men, Nicholas Stallard and Paul Hayles, were jailed for manslaughter in 2023 for their involvement in the attack.
A fourth man, who was said to be another dealer who instigated the robbery of his rival, remains at large after fleeing to Pakistan.
Mr Hopley’s mother Marilyn Warner said:
“We are devastated and broken at the loss of our only child.”
“The Richard we knew is not the Richard that you have been told about. He was a kind and very loving son.
“What has anyone gained by his death? Nothing has been gained, just all of this heartache which we will both carry with us the rest of our lives.”
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