Brighton seafront murder: Timeline of Suel Delgado tragedy

Suel Delgado was out with his friends from Crawley to celebrate the birthday of Aman Alyas on November 30, 2019.

But the 20-year-old was murdered by Iftekhar Khondaker, 34, who mowed him down in his father’s BMW in Marine Parade at about 5.30am on December 1.

This is how the shocking violence unfolded.

• Before Brighton

At 10pm, friends Suel Delgado, Azaan Khan, Raja Zakir Khan (Zak), Umar Khan, Zidane Yousaf, Clayton Gardner, Shabaz Khan and Suliman Khan arrived at the Sandman Signature Hotel in Crawley.

They were there to celebrate the birthday of pal Aman Alyas, and they had a night of fun in Brighton lined up.

The night started with Crawley pals at the Sandman Signature hotel in the town

Meanwhile in Mitcham, South London, brothers Iftekhar Khondaker, 34, and Irfan Khondaker, 27, were preparing for their own night out on the south coast.

They contacted pal Umesh Ravinthan about their plans. After having one beer, Iftekhar drove his father’s BMW to Brighton.

He admitted he had not been to Brighton before, but the group all fancied a night out.

Iftekhar Khondaker, 34, was found guilty of the hit-and-run murder of Suel Delgado in Brighton and attempted murder of Azaan Khan and Raja Zakir Khan

Iftekhar was on licence from prison at the time, convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm by driving a car at another man in 2014.

After five years he had been released half way through his sentence as per sentencing rules.

• Arrival to Brighton

At 11.30pm, Suel Delgado and his friends arrived in Brighton and spent a brief amount of time at the Pier Nine casino.

The Crawley group briefly went to the Pier Nine casino in Brighton

From there, they went to the Shooshh nightclub, where they arrived between 12.30pm and 1am.

Umar Khan said: “It was a really nice atmosphere, the people knew us and we went to the VIP section.”

Birthday boy Aman Alyas said the night had been planned for a long time.

Meanwhile at 12.20am Khondaker parked the BMW outside the New Madeira Hotel in Marine Parade.

The Shooshh nightclub at Brighton beach - Picture from Google Earth

Khondaker and his friends walked toward Shooshh at 1.05am, but could not get in. So they went to The Arch club instead.

Both groups appear to have enjoyed their time in the clubs. Amaan Alyas and his pals danced and drank, as did Iftekhar Khondaker and his two pals.

Indeed, so merry did he get that he fell asleep inside the club.

• The start of the fight

The beginning of the fight started after both nightclubs had closed. Suel Delgado and his friends left Shooshh shortly before 5am.

Umar Khan said they had a taxi waiting for them somewhere near the top of the ramp to Grand Junction Road.

Two pals had already gone, while Zidane Yousaf was helping Clayton Gardner up the ramp because Clayton was worse for wear. They got into the taxi.

Suel Delgado died after an alleged hit and run murder in Marine Parade, Brighton

Fatefully, Umar Khan, Zak Khan, Azaan Khan, Amaan Alyas and Suel Delgado did not get into the taxi.

It has been suggested that there was a row over how a young woman had been treated with claims made impolite comments had been made about Umesh Ravinthan and his skin colour.

But these claims were denied by Umar Khan, Aman Alyas, and Azaan Khan. It was claimed instead that one of the trio from Mitcham had tried to flirt with the young woman, but she was not interested.

The ramp outside the Shooshh nightclub in Brighton where the fighting started

Umar Khan said: “While we were going up the ramp we saw those three guys walking up as well. There was a girl with us tagging along. I think she was just very concerned about Clayton.

“One of the guys came up and started asking questions, where you guys from?

“He said things in a way, he was checking, trying to dominate and he seemed aggressive, it was not a polite hello. He was speaking quite close to my face, into my face.”

• Fight erupts at about 5.15am

Umar said as he tried to calm things down, the row erupted around him at the top of the ramp.

He said: “The other guys from the group started saying something and it all got heated after that.

“I remembered one of them taking their belt off and swinging it towards Amaan. The Sri Lankan guy took his belt off first. Then our group took belts off as well, and they were being swung back and forth. There was pushing and shoving at the top of the ramp.

“As it all kicked off, I realised it had all kicked off. I was trying to defuse the situation, telling my group, and their group, let's leave this. But it just kept carrying on.”

• Violence continues

Both groups of men fought along Grand Junction Road, with hotel guests saying they got a rude awakening.

One guest reported seeing the young woman being shoved to the ground during the fracas, and said she was down for a long time before she was able to get back to her feet.

The groups fought each other with belts as the violence continued down towards the pier.

CCTV footage showed at one stage that Suel Delgado appeared to push Irfan Khondaker from behind, before being grabbed by Iftekhar.

Iftekhar was seen wading into the fight, and appears to have been knocked to the floor.

He suffered a wound to his chin from a belt buckle.

• 'Pursuit'

The two groups separated, but Suel was seen “pursuing” the three men into Marine Parade.

Witnesses said he may have been “showing off” to his friends and acting with bravado.

Suel Delgado died from his injuries after a suspected hit and run in Marine Parade, Brighton

Outside The Amsterdam Hotel however the Khondaker brothers seemed to turn the tables on him, knocking him to the floor, punching and kicking him.

Hove Crown Court heard that Suel was “given a bit of a pasting” and his blood was left on the street and on a car.

• The crash

The two groups thought it was over, and walked away from each other. But as Iftekhar got into the driver’s seat of the car the red mist came down.

It was suggested that he was enraged to find he was bleeding as a result of the “annoying” young men.

He lost his temper, put his foot on the accelerator and drove straight at the men walking away.

At about 5.30am he hit the group at speeds of up to 41mph, sending them sprawling.

The scene in Brighton after the incident in Marine Parade where Suel Delgado was killed in a suspected hit and run

Ten minutes later CCTV showed the Khondakers abandoning the vehicle and attempting to change their clothes in Middle Street, Brighton, before getting an Uber to take them back to London.

• Aftermath

Suel Delgado, Azaan Khan and Zak Khan lay seriously injured in the road. The force of the car had sent Suel up onto the bonnet of the BMW where he hit his head. Zak Khan had been sent cartwheeling over the bonnet.

The car had struck all three men from behind.

Video footage recorded by a hotel guest showed the aftermath as police and emergency services were called.

The scene in Brighton seafront after Suel Delgado, Azaan Khan and Raja Zakir Khan were struck by a vehicle in Brighton seafront

Umar Khan and Aman Alyas reacted with “horror and disbelief” and were in tears as they dialled 999.

Suel Delgado was bleeding “profusely” from the head.

The impact of the crash had left all three men unconscious, and had been so forceful that Azaan Khan’s shoes had been knocked off and his trousers had come down.

They were all rushed to hospital.

Police launched Operation Danebridge on December 1, and the A259 was cordoned off to traffic.

• Crime scene

The area around St James’s Street and Marine Parade was cordoned off as police began searching for clues.

There had been unconfirmed fears that the incident may have been a terrorist attack similar to those seen at London Bridge and Westminster Bridge.

But the police were able to confirm that it was not terrorism.

The scene in Brighton after the incident in Marine Parade where Suel Delgado was killed in a suspected hit and run

The impact of the crash had been so powerful that items in the men’s pockets had been left strewn all over the road.

Crime scene investigators moved and photographed the area behind the wide cordon, which was marked out with tape at every junction.

The scene in Brighton after the incident in Marine Parade where Suel Delgado was killed in a suspected hit and run

The A259 would be closed for nearly three days as police conducted their enquiries.

• Injuries

Suel Delado had suffered devastating head injuries and died at the Royal Sussex County Hospital the next day surrounded by his friends and family.

The 20-year-old was known as a popular and promising young footballer with teams in Sussex.

Tributes and flowers started to appear at the scene outside The Amsterdam Hotel, with bouquets and heartfelt personal messages being left.

Tributes have been left to Suel Delgado outside The Amsterdam Hotel in Marine Parade

The Khans remained in hospital having suffered life-changing injuries.

• Khondakers

Iftekhar and Irfan Khondaker asked their Uber to drop them off away from their street address in Mitcham, perhaps trying to throw off the police.

But after sleeping, Iftekhar went to accident and emergency at Charing Cross Hospital over his bleeding chin at 1pm on December 1.

He told doctors he could not explain how he got the injury.

On December 2 police swooped in and arrested him at the probation office on suspicion of murder.

Irfan later handed himself in to a police station in Worthing.

After initial interviews, Iftekhar was released under investigation before being interviewed again in February.

He was charged with the murder of Suel Delgado and the attempted murder of Azaan Khan and Raja Zakir Khan.

Irfan Khondaker was charged with assisting an offender by booking the Uber when he knew a crime had been committed.

• First court appearance

The Khondakers first appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Friday, February 28.

In court they appeared defiant and unrepentant.

After learning that The Argus and other media were in court, they attempted to refuse to give their names and addresses.

Eventually they tried to claim they had “no fixed address”.

They were remanded in custody to appear before Lewes Crown Court the following week, where they appeared calmer and entered “not guilty” pleas.

• Expert reports

Richard Moller was brought in to examine the BMW and his report was given to Sussex Police in April 2020.

There was clear damage to the front of the vehicle including cracked metal in the bonnet, shattered glass, damage to the number plate and windscreen.

The vehicle driven by Iftekhar Khondaker that led to the death of Suel Delgado in Brighton. Khondaker denies driving at a group of men deliberately in order to kill them

He also found traces of hair and blood on the bonnet and blood splattered across the front of the car.

In July 2020, expert Dean Beaumont gave his report after carrying out tests.

Three persons runover on marine parade brighton , not terror related, two gangs fighting.

He found that the Khondaker’s vehicle had been travelling between speeds of 35 and 41mph as it hit the men from behind.

There was no sign of any braking.

The men had been struck by the front of the car, not at an angle, so it was not a glancing blow.

Had Iftekhar accelerated in a normal way, there would have been enough time for the men to have crossed the road.

• Trial delayed

The Khondakers had been due to stand trial in August, but because of the coronavirus crisis, they were told their trial would not go ahead.

No trials were in operation at the crown courts in Lewes, Hove or Brighton at the time.

Officials worked to make proceedings “Covid-19 compliant” by introducing more distance inside courts and bringing in plastic perspex screens to protect jurors, staff, lawyers and the public.

• On trial

The Argus reported extensively on the Khondaker trial, which finally started on January 5.

Kate Lumsdon QC told jurors the men had been deliberately mowed down by Iftekhar Khondaker.

Witnesses gave their evidence, and Iftekhar Khondaker also testified, claiming the crash had been an “accident”.

He admitted he was drink driving and driving dangerously, but denied knowing he had hit the men.

Ms Lumsdon branded his evidence as “patently ludicrous”.

The scene in Brighton after the incident in Marine Parade where Suel Delgado was killed in a suspected hit and run

It was down to the jury to decide how drunk Iftekhar Khondaker was, and whether he had the intent to kill.

They took 16 hours to consider their verdicts.

Eventually they returned their verdicts of guilty on all counts by a majority of 10-2. Irfan Khondaker was unanimously found guilty of assisting an offender.

• Sentencing

Her Honour Judge Christine Laing QC sentenced Iftekhar and Irfan Khondaker for their roles in the horrific incident on February 4, 2021.

She sentenced Iftekhar, of Caithness Road, Mitcham, to life in prison, and said he will have to serve a minimum of 26 years before he can be considered for parole.

Irfan was jailed for three years for assisting an offender.