THE mother of a murdered Somali teenager says the life sentence handed to his killer brought back the devastating memory of when she was told he was dead.

Abdul Khan, 19, was jailed for a minimum of 22 years for plunging a blade into Hassan Kul Hawadleh's heart on the forecourt of the Total Garage, in High Street, Wealdstone, in February last year.

The death sent shockwaves through the community where 19-year-old Kul, a former Harrow College student, was well known as the son of former Somali Prime Minister Mohammed Hawadleh.

Distraught family members were left grieving for their “ray of light” and hundreds attended his funeral service, at Hendon Mosque and Islamic Centre.

Speaking publicly for the first time since her son's murder, Amina Omar said: “The day of the verdict was almost like when I found out he passed away – it reawakened everything.

“My son is not going to come back, but what the judicial system and the police have done I am grateful for. It was quite difficult and quite emotional.”

Ubad Hawadleh, Hassan's sister, said: “No sentence is ever going to be enough to bring our brother back. For us it's no celebration, but we are just grateful the guy who did this to our brother is not coming out any time soon.”

The Old Bailey heard how Khan was angered by the “humiliation” he had suffered in a previous fight involving a friend of Kul.

He attacked that man earlier in the evening and Judge Paul Worsley said his “unacceptable” quest for revenge should have ended there.

But instead, Khan stabbed Abdiwahab Guiled, another friend of Kul, in the buttocks on the forecourt before launching the knife attack on Kul himself.

Sentencing Khan at the Old Bailey, Judge Worsley said: “He offered you no violence, but you stabbed him in the shoulder. You then stabbed him through the heart with such force that it scored a bone.

“You have shown no flicker of remorse. The man who died had everything to live for. He did not deserve to die as he did at your hands on that garage forecourt.”

Detective Inspector Martin Ludlow, who led the investigation for the Met's murder squad, said: “Kul was fatally stabbed as he rushed to the aid of a close friend who was being assaulted. He was left to die on the petrol station forecourt.

“I, along with the investigation team, pay tribute to Kul Hawadleh and all of his friends and family who have shown immense bravery throughout this investigation.”