Driver jailed for 22 years for chasing down and killing ‘showboating’ e-bike rider

A driver has been jailed for at least 22 years for the murder of an e-bike rider who pulled a wheelie in front of his car.

Liam Jones, 22, died after a raging driver, Abdirahman Ibrahim, rammed him with his car and left him to die on the road in Birmingham.

Ibrahim, 21, used his car as a weapon to hit Liam, who was rammed against a concrete post with catastrophic consequences.

Liam was described in court as the fun and bubbly ‘spark’ of his family.

Now Ibrahim, of Bonham Grove, Yardley, has been sentenced to a minimum term of 22 years for the murder.

When passing the sentence, Judge Andrew Smith KC said it must have bene clear to the driver Liam was not wearing a helmet prior to his death on Moat Lane on August 1, 2023.

He said: ‘There is no evidence that Mr Jones or Mr Johnson ever participated in racing with your car or did anything to encourage you to interact with them.’

The judge said: ‘After careful reflection I have concluded that you did drive the car into and on Moat Lane such that you had the car available as a weapon.

‘You pursued (Mr Jones and his friend) in a determined and deliberate way.’

Chilling footage shows how Ibrahim drove behind Liam and his friend, Tayzhon Johnson, who managed to escape.

The pair were seen pulling wheelies in front of his car as they rode through the Birmingham neighbourhood shortly before midnight.

Ibrahim first continued in the opposite direction, but he suddenly turned around and started to follow the cyclists.

After a terrifying pursuit through residential streets, Ibrahim rammed Liam from behind twice, leaving the 22-year-old with chest and abdominal injuries, which he succumbed to at the scene.

Detective Inspector Nick Barnes said they believe Ibrahim was ‘angered by Liam’s showboating and wanted to teach him a lesson.’

DI Barnes said, when Ibrahim was found guilty of murder, he was ‘intent on causing harm to Liam. He could have turned off at any point but he followed the riders and wanted to be in control.’

‘This was not a case of racing gone wrong as had been claimed by Ibrahim, but of him menacingly pursuing Liam and his friend.’

Ibrahim’s brother Abdullahi Ibrahim was travelling in the car with him on the night.

The pair stopped at a shop on Coventry Road after the incident – despite ‘knowing they’d at the very least left someone badly injured,’ the police said previously.

Abdullahi Ibrahim was jailed for two years and 10 months after pleading guilty to assisting an offender at an earlier hearing.

They said in a tribute: ‘Liam was a loving, caring son, brother and uncle, he would do anything for anybody – he lived life to the fullest,” the statement said.

‘He touched many hearts, gained many friends and he will be truly missed by family.

‘Keep doing what you loved, bike it up there.’

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