A FATHER and son serving life for shooting a bystander who pursued their getaway car from an armed robbery were at the centre of an Appeal Court test case today.
In what is expected to be a landmark case, a five-judge court presided over by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, in London, will consider the cases of Barry and Derek Elener when giving guidelines on whether a life sentence should mean life.
Barry Elener, 42, was convicted in March this year of murdering Tasawar Hussain, 36, who worked at British Car Auctions in Brighouse.
His father, Derek Elener, 65, who was involved in a nine-year crime spree in which he stole £190,000, had earlier admitted the same charge.
Leeds Crown Court heard how Mr Hussain, whose wife, Naila, 34, was four months pregnant, was "calmly and deliberately" shot at point blank range after following the robbers near his Bradford home.
The victim was a passenger in a BMW being driven by Azram Hussain, his best friend and neighbour, when they responded to shouts to follow two men who had just robbed a security guard of £40,000 at Madina Travel in Manningham, Bradford, in January last year.
The judges will decide what tariffs - the minimum number of years mandatory life prisoners must serve before being considered for parole - are appropriate in murder cases of varying gravity.
