Mystery of Birmingham park murder amid top cop's regret over 'case he could never solve'

West Midlands Police 'regularly review' tragic case of Sarfraz Khan - but 12 years on, no-one has been convicted over the killing

Detectives have issued a new appeal for information more than a decade on from a brutal park murder, vowing: "We'll always look to act." Loving dad-of-two Sarfraz Khan was just 24 when he was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver.

His two young daughters were left fatherless in 2010 as an eight-inch long tool was embedded in his left temple. His killing, described as a 'spontaneous attack' at the time, came amid a row with a group of teenagers at Sparkbrook's Larches Green Park.

Details of his death resurfaced last week as relative Mohammed Zafran recalled the injustice of his brother-in-law's murder. The tragedy saw 'Zaf' dedicate his life to tackling youth and gang violence across the UK, but for his family, the suffering of his unsolved killing is unrelenting.

READ MORE: 'My brother-in-law was stabbed to death with a screwdriver - we'll never know who killed him or why'

No-one has ever been convicted and, despite "extensive police enquiries" there are no fresh or active lines of enquiry, West Midlands Police confirmed. However, Det Insp Jim Church this week urged anyone with information to get in touch with the force as it continued to "regularly review" all unsolved murders - including Mr Khan's.

Mr Church, from the force's homicide review team, told BirminghamLive: "The pain of losing a loved one doesn't go away, and we'll always look to act on new information to get justice for a victim and their family.

"Despite extensive enquiries both at the time of this tragic death, and since, no-one has so far been convicted over the killing of Sarfraz.

"We regularly review all unsolved murders but at this stage we have no fresh, or active, lines of enquiry into who was responsible for his death. We'd continue to ask anyone with new information to contact us."

Mr Khan was 'very bubbly', always smiling and would always be there for his family, Zaf had recalled. "Now until this day, we don't know who killed him, or why he was killed," he had said.

"He was a very bubbly character and, he would always be there for you. A lot of people who remember him think of him as the lad if you heard about trouble, he was right next to us.

"He was walking round smiling, being there for you. He was a big guy, a bubbly character, loving father of two daughters and it's a shame, an unexpected death.

"Someone stabbed him in the head with a screwdriver in the park, not far away from where the shop was." After the fatal incident in Larches Green Park, Zaf's wife visited the scene daily to grieve.

He added: "We used to go there regularly, my wife used to go there every single night after he was murdered. She used to park outside the park, just by a tree where he was stabbed to death."

Zaf, now the West Midlands Volunteer Committee chair at Crimestoppers, added: "When I met Supt Rich Baker recently, he said 'son, that's one case I could never solve.'

"And it was his biggest regret because he's retired now, 30 years in the service and that's one unsolved mystery." At the time, a teenage girl claimed to have witnessed the murder, Zaf said. But tragically, she was later found to have taken her own life in the same park.

He explained: "At that time there was one girl and she came out in the open, I think she told my father-in-law at the time, 'I know who killed your son'. She saw everything but she was later found dead in the same park. After that there were no clues, nothing."

A 16-year-old had been charged with his murder at the time, but was later found not guilty as he claimed Sarfraz suffered the injury while the two of them were grappling.