Jack Patterson, an 18-year-old from Slough, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for the manslaughter of Temur Qureshi. The verdict was delivered at Reading Crown Court, concluding an intensive police investigation by the Major Crime Unit at Thames Valley Police.
The tragic incident occurred on Hampden Road, Langley, at around 11:20am on September 30th last year. Emergency services, including South Central Ambulance Service, responded to a distress call reporting a stabbing. Despite their efforts, Temur Qureshi, from Slough, sadly died at the scene. A Home Office post-mortem found that Qureshi died from a haemorrhage and stab wound to the left lung.
Patterson’s legal proceedings included multiple court appearances. On April 2nd, he pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter. Subsequently, on April 15th, a jury found him guilty of possessing a bladed article but found him not guilty of one count of murder.
Patterson was charged on 4 October last year.
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Alice Broad from the Major Crime Unit said: “Following the conviction and now sentencing of Jack Patterson for possession of a knife and the subsequent manslaughter of Temur Quershi, I would like to pay tribute, again, to the family of Temur.
“They have remained dignified throughout the investigation of Temur’s death, the criminal trial through to the conclusion, with the sentencing hearing at Reading Crown Court on Friday.
“Knife crime has had, and will continue to have, such a devastating impact on the family and friends of Temur, my thoughts and that of those within Thames Valley Police, remain with them.
“I would like to quote the words written by Temur himself about knife crime and the impact it has on those affected, which he wrote following the murder of his friend Adbul Aziz Ansari, the year before Temur’s own death: ‘Imagine you’re walking home from school one day, feeling excited about your weekend plans. Suddenly, you hear a commotion up the road. You see a group of people shouting and arguing, then one of them pulls out a knife. Your hearts starts racing, you feel scared and helpless. Sadly, this is a reality for far too many people, and it’s why we need to talk about the seriousness of knife crime violence and act upon it. The number of people killed with a knife in England and Wales in 2021/22 was the highest on record for 76 years. This is a pandemic and we need to find a cure. If no cure, any sort of contribution to tackle this is always better than nothing. When someone picks up a knife to kill another person, they’re not just hurting that person, they’re destroying a whole family. A family who won’t live the same anymore. They’re leaving scars that you can’t see with your eyes. And will never be the same people again after their loss… I want to do this because I’ve seen what has happened to me, my closest family and friends and how it’s affected us, so why does another young person need to go through the same things when really and truly it’s all for nothing… I hope to see a decrease in young lives lost to the streets.’”
