Teenager found guilty of murdering drug dealer

The boy is said to have "cornered" the victim in an alleyway next to a residential street

A teenage boy has been found guilty of murdering a drug dealer after robbing him at knifepoint with another boy.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, stabbed Hamid Erfani, 46, in a Cheltenham alleyway on 16 December 2025, after taking cash, drugs and a mobile phone off him.

He was found guilty by a jury at Bristol Crown Court earlier.

The boy, who was 15 at the time of the attack, had denied murdering Erfani and claimed he acted in self-defence.

He and a second teenager previously admitted to robbing Erfani.

The court was shown CCTV footage of the two boys arriving at the scene in Larput Place.

Erfani arrived by car shortly afterwards and walked into the alleyway.

The exact location of the attack was not covered by CCTV but Anna Vigars KC, prosecuting, told the jury that witnesses saw the pair "corner" Erfani with large knives, who "unsurprisingly" did not resist.

The boys robbed Erfani before the 16-year-old stabbed him in the chest.

During the trial, Charles Rowe KC, defending, said the murder was "completely opportunistic".

The defence claimed Erfani "lunged" forward and the boy "instinctively" punched him, mistakenly using the hand holding the knife.

Vigars said this argument was a "non-starter" and that a large knife was "not the kind of thing you forget you've got on you".

She added that it was likely the defendant knew Erfani was involved in dealing drugs and so "hatched a plan" to rob him.

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