The family of a murdered taxi driver have spoken about their “daily torture” of never finding out why their loved one was killed.
The Ghafoor family have lived without closure for three decades and are calling on the public to help “end their agony” and ensure justice is finally served.
The family have watched as their parents took their anguish to the grave, never finding out why their “charming and outgoing” son was taken from them.
Ethsham Ul-Haq Ghafoor, aged 26, of Sherwood Rise, known to his friends and family as Shami, was shot dead in his taxi on Tuesday, 22nd November 1994.
Shami was last seen in Carlton Square at 2:40 am with three Asian men in his black and white Ford Sierra.
He was found by a milkman at 4:30 am at Lambley Lane Playing Fields in Gedling, with his hands tied and bound to the steering wheel.
Crimestoppers, a charity independent of the police, is offering up to £50,000 for any information which leads to a conviction.
Shami was described as a family man, known as a rock to his three sisters and four brothers.
Already the father of a five-year-old son, he was killed just five months before his baby daughter was born.
Now, a new team of detectives are re-investigating the crime and appealing for information on the 30th anniversary of his death.
They believe the answers to Shami’s death lie within the community.
Speaking on behalf of the family, his sister, Aisha Ghafoor, 58, from Nottingham, described how the family’s life was shattered the day they received the police visit.
Aisha was in her twenties and at university when her brother was killed.
She couldn’t even bear to attend her own graduation.
She had always planned to have her eldest brother by her side on what should have been the happiest moment of her youth.
She said: “We are the ones that are serving the life sentence. We are the ones doing the time.
“When they killed Shami that day, they killed every chance of us being a happy family again. They stole our Shami from us.
“Even after 30 years, the feelings are still raw.
“We are a close family, and this tragedy has kept us together. But it also comes with immeasurable pain and isolation.
“He was such a central figure in our family. Our mother never recovered from his loss. She never got to find out who killed her son, and she never will.
“She died at the age of 85. Even right up to the last weeks of her life, she would say, ‘I’m not going to find out who killed my son, am I?’
“Our youngest brother was also robbed of his life the day Shami died.
“He was only 17 when Shami was killed. Traumatised by the crime, he was afraid to go out and spent the rest of his short life a recluse.
“He had lost the big brother he idolised, suddenly taken in such brutal circumstances.
“Shami was also murdered five months before his baby daughter was born. He never got to meet his daughter; she never got to know him. He will never see the beautiful children she has now brought into the world, nor his son’s children.”
Shami was born and raised in Nottingham and attended local schools. He was a big cricket and snooker fan and helped build a snooker table in his dad’s attic.
This became a focal point for family gatherings. Shami loved singing and would often embarrass his sisters by breaking into song.
He had joined the family taxi business, A1 Taxis, but had high aspirations of being an actor and auditioned for drama school.
The family business collapsed after Shami’s death. They couldn’t bear to continue after what had happened.
Aisha said: “He was the life and soul of every celebration. He was the kind of guy you could rely on with a charming personality.
“He was very protective, and if someone needed help, he would be there. Shami may have associated himself with the wrong people at times, and it might be associating with these people which cost him his life. But he was our Shami.”
The family are now calling for anyone with information, no matter how small, to please come forward.
Crimestoppers, a charity independent of the police, is offering a £50,000 reward for any information which leads to a conviction.
The reward is available for three months.
