Five men have now been convicted of conspiring to murder the two victims following the calculated attack on Tickhill Street, Bradford, on 11 May 2025.
The case has also exposed a serious breach of public trust within West Yorkshire Police, after PCSO Alice Dobson, 30, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
The convictions, delivered at Bradford Crown Court on Thursday, 6 November, bring a major development in a case involving extreme violence, a planned double killing and the misuse of sensitive police information.
It was around 10pm when a group of men armed with machetes launched a violent assault on two men, then aged 30 and 31, on Tickhill Street.
The victims desperately attempted to escape, running in different directions as their attackers pursued them.
Usamah Khan, then 30, managed to flee the scene and reach a friend’s car, which drove away from the area. He had suffered serious injuries to his neck.
But Zayad Khan, then 31, was unable to escape.
He ran in the opposite direction before being caught and attacked. When police officers arrived, they discovered him suffering from devastating injuries that would change his life.
What emerged during the subsequent investigation was that the violence had not been a spontaneous confrontation.
Detectives established that the attack was part of a calculated conspiracy to murder both men.
As investigators worked to identify those behind the attack, the case took another troubling turn.
A serving West Yorkshire Police community support officer, Alice Dobson, was found to have accessed operational police information and passed it to one of the defendants.
Her actions raised serious questions about the misuse of confidential information and the trust placed in those working within the police service.
Dobson, 30, from Bradford District, was subsequently convicted of perverting the course of justice.
The court also heard that she had been charged with separate offences unrelated to the machete attack.
She had already admitted one count of perverting the course of justice and one count of misconduct in public office.
Those offences involved accessing police computer systems without a legitimate policing purpose, obtaining confidential information about individuals and attempting to influence police investigations.
The revelations have added another disturbing dimension to an already shocking case, with a member of police staff found to have abused access to information that should have remained protected.
Following the trial at Bradford Crown Court, five men were found guilty of two counts each of conspiracy to murder.
They are:
- Mohammed Waqqas Khan, 27, of Folkestone Street, Bradford.
- Rahees Khan, 42, formerly of Granton Street, Bradford, and now of no fixed abode. He was also convicted of perverting the course of justice.
- Hanzalah Saladin, 27, of no fixed abode, Bradford.
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Mohammed Waqas Khan. Image: West Yorkshire Police Adam Takolia, 29, of no fixed abode, Bradford.
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- A fifth man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
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All five were remanded in custody and are due to be sentenced on 8 February 2027.
Dobson was granted bail, with her sentencing date yet to be confirmed.
Detective Chief Superintendent Tanya Wilkins, of West Yorkshire Police, condemned the violence and acknowledged the lasting suffering endured by the victims.
“This was a calculated, pre-planned, horrific attack on two men on the streets of Bradford where these men thought they could take the law into their own hands,” she said.
“The victims are still living with the horrendous impact of the attack today.”
Addressing Dobson’s conviction, DCS Wilkins said her actions represented a serious betrayal of the public’s confidence in policing.
“The conviction of PCSO Dobson for perverting the course of justice represents a serious breach of trust placed in those who serve our communities.”
She stressed that police employees were only permitted to access sensitive information for legitimate operational reasons.
“The public quite rightly should expect that any sensitive and confidential information recorded about them is protected.”
West Yorkshire Police confirmed that Dobson remains suspended from duty and will face a gross misconduct hearing.
DCS Wilkins said the case demonstrated that police personnel would be held accountable when they broke the law.
“Our officers and staff are not above the law, and this case is an example of us rightly holding PCSO Dobson to account for her actions following a thorough Counter Corruption investigation.”
While the five convicted men await sentencing, the case has left two victims living with the consequences of a vicious attack and exposed serious misconduct within the police service.
It is a case that goes beyond a violent street assault, one involving an organised plot to take two lives and a breach of trust by someone employed to serve the very communities police are sworn to protect.
