Tariq Sattar

Tariq Sattar was shot in the back of the neck in the cellar of his pub, the Black Bull in Halifax Old Road, Birkby, and found dead there on 7 September 1998.

A 46-year-old man was tried for his murder and manslaughter but acquitted.

Tariq Sattar had been  the licensee of the Black Bull.

He was found dead in the cellar with his hands and feet tied.

He had been shot in the back of the neck with a sawn-off shotgun. He died instantly.

Two men were convicted for attempted robbery and burglary. It was heard that they had gone to the pub in the early hours to steal the pub takings and had got into the pub through the bathroom window with the intention of stealing the money from the safe.

However, it was heard that whilst they were there, Tariq Sattar had returned to the pub and that when he did they sprayed CS gas in his face and forced him to the floor and tied him up with rope.

One of the men said that they found the keys to the safe on Tariq Sattar and that he then went upstairs to open it and that whilst he was there he heard a bang and that when he came back down he saw his friend standing there in a cloud of smoke with a shotgun in his hand.

However, the other man said that he had not been at the pub that night at all and that the other man had been lying to shift the blame from himself.

It was heard that they got £400 from the safe.

Other evidence against the man tried stated that he had later confessed to a relative, saying that the gun had gone off accidentally while he was hitting Tariq Sattar, but he also denied that.

Another relative claimed that they had seen the shotgun. He said that the man tried had owned a 12-bore double-barrelled shotgun at a previous address and had been very proud of it and that sometime later he saw that it had been sawn down and was much shorter. He said he had not told the police about that earlier as he had been protecting his uncle.

The man that was said to have shot Tariq Sattar had an IQ of 67 and it was noted that that meant that 98.6 per cent of the population were intellectually more able than he was.

The man had been previously found unfit to stand trial, but before a further hearing could be held to determine whether he had carried out the act of killing Tariq Sattar he had gone on the run and fled to France where he was later arrested.

After he was returned to the UK he was found to be fit to stand trial and then tried at Leeds Crown Court but acquitted. However, he was found guilty of attempted robbery and sentenced to six years. The other man also admitted burglary and was sentenced to two years..