'Brutal' killing of taxi driver

The taxi driver was murdered just two weeks after the birth of his child

A Keighley taxi driver has been brutally murdered just two weeks after the birth of his child.

Father-of-six Mahmood Ahmed, 36, of Highfield, was stabbed in the chest and repeatedly battered around the head with a blunt instrument.

He was last seen leaving the Silverline Taxi rank on Monday night to pick up a man called Steve from the Merry Melon grocers shop in Oakworth Road.

His body was discovered on Tuesday at the side of the road in Slack Lane.

His taxi cab was found abandoned on Tuesday in Maize Street in the Ingrow area of Keighley. Forensic experts carried out tests on the car on Wednesday.

Det Supt Paul Kennedy said: "This was a brutal killing and we are making intensive investigations to find out why Mahmood Ahmed was killed.

Family devastated

"Mahmood wasn't known to police, he came from a loving and happy family and they are distraught about what has happened.

"The past fortnight had been a happy and exciting time for the family with the arrival of a new baby. They are absolutely devastated at Mahmood's death.

Colleagues began phoning Mr Ahmed's mobile phone about an hour after he left the rank on Monday to see where he was. There was no answer, which they said was out of character.

Mr Ahmed, the eldest of six brothers, was married with six children aged between eight years and two-weeks old.

Police are appealing for witnesses and say they urgently want to trace the man calling himself Steve.

Mr Kennedy said: "He may be entirely unconnected to what happened to Mahmood but we are eager to speak to him because he might have vital information which could help us."

He added police were not treating the murder as a racially motivated attack.

He said: "There is no information at all to suggest any racial motive. There is no evidence to suggest he had any enemies, either within any community in Keighley or outside of the Keighley area."

An incident room has been set up at Keighley Police Station and is being staffed by detectives from West Yorkshire Police's Homicide and Major Enquiry Team.