Even his friends said he was no angel. Certainly few deaths have divided opinion as sharply as that of Mohammed Yassar Yaqub.

According to the Daily Telegraph he was a “major drugs baron who laundered the profits from his drugs empire through his sale of high-performance cars after running an illegal smuggling ring.”

A conflicting picture emerged. To some he was a flash young man who adored high-performance cars costing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

But his father has hit back at the report in the Telegraph which went on to quote a former neighbour who described Yassar as a “formidable gangster.”

In 2010 he was cleared of attempted murder and a firearms offence after it was alleged that he opened fire on two men in a car in Huddersfield.

The coffin of Mohammed Yassar Yaqub is carried outside Masjid Bilal Huddersfield ahead of his funeral
The coffin of Mohammed Yassar Yaqub is carried outside Masjid Bilal Huddersfield ahead of his funeral

But, according to his family and friends, the 28-year-old was an upstanding citizen who people could look up to.

At the vigil on Wednesday night held in his memory at the spot on the M62 slip road at Ainley Top where he was shot dead by West Yorkshire Police one of his old schoolfriends, Imran Bashir, said he was “a good role model.”

That comment raised more than a few eyebrows – and sparked a flurry of comments on social media – but just who was Mohammed Yassar Yaqub?

His father Mohammed Yaqub, a well-respected businessman in Crosland Moor, was adamant that the fast cars were a by-product of his legitimate business interests and that his beloved son was merely a car enthusiast who had loved smart motors from a time before he could drive.

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He told the Examiner at his home on Thursday that his son was “a very good and loving son who was loved by many people in the community.

“He was a very kind-hearted man who would do anything for anyone. If I had the chance I would have the same son.”

Mr Yaqub runs a car business and his son worked for the company. Father-of-four Mr Yaqub, believed to own dozens of properties in the local area, said the only blemish on his son’s reputation was a conviction for a minor assault.

A view of security cameras at the home of Yassar Yaqub in Rudding Street, Crosland Moor
A view of security cameras at the home of Yassar Yaqub in Rudding Street, Crosland Moor

This was not how one of his neighbours on Rudding Street saw it. She has lived on the street for 18 years and said Yassar was well-known for his drug dealing and for “carrying a baseball bat in his car whenever he went out.”

She said the CCTV cameras which monitored activity at the family home were installed after the house was shot at, pointing out the spot where the bullets had been allegedly plastered over.

A Crosland Moor businesswoman described Yassar as “bad news” but he was clearly the apple of his father’s eye and his only son.

Mr Yaqub was asked about allegations that his son was a drug dealer and that “police clearly believed he was a risk to them.”

The grieving father replied: “I don’t think he was a risk at all.”

Asked what he thought had happened he said that having looked at the photographs of the cars on the slip road that police had been out to get his son.

“I think that he was cornered, shot instantly without any warning,” he said.

“He had no convictions for firearms or drugs, only minor assault. I believe he was targeted, a pre-planned assassination.”

Whatever the truth we may never know the real Yassar Yaqub but an investigation into his death should at least expose the circumstances over how and why he died. Only then will the family have some measure of closure.