Teenage girlfriend who helped zombie-knife street killer flee Leeds and hide in Hartlepool avoids jail

Kaiden Williams was jailed in 2023 for stabbing Peter Wass to death in Chapeltown with a so-called “zombie knife” over an alleged drug debt.

Williams was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 14 years.

But in the hours after the killing, he fled Leeds and travelled 80 miles north to Hartlepool with his girlfriend, 17-year-old Aseya Begum.

Now 19, she appeared at Leeds Crown Court to be sentenced for assisting an offender and failing to comply with a Section 49 notice - refusing to unlock her phone for analysis by police.

However, she only admitted the offences on day three of her trial.

The court heard that after stabbing Mr Wass on March 2, 2023, Williams ran home to Edgware Mount in Harehills, and met Begum.

It was heard they had initially opted to go to a relative’s, but changed their minds and booked a National Express coach heading north.

Phone records showed that Williams and Begum were transported around Leeds by taxi in the early hours of the next morning.

But rather than board the coach, they paid for a taxi to drive them to Hartlepool and arrived on the evening of March 4.

They went to a property of a woman known to Williams and stayed for nine days before being arrested by West Yorkshire Police.

Prosecutor Emma Handley said that Begum, of Nowell Mount, Harehills, admitted she was aware that Williams had stabbed a man, but he told her it was in self defence.

Having been arrested, she claimed Williams had changed the PIN to her phone so could not help the police access the device. She later admitted she knew the PIN.

She has no previous convictions.

Mitigating, Matthew Stewart pointed to Begum’s age at the time and went with Williams due to “misplaced loyalty”.

He said she had “realised the error of her judgement” and was on a “much more promising path”, having now obtained a job.

Judge Howard Crowson acknowledged her age and also added: “Refusing to help him [Williams] that day was not really an option for you.”

He was also impressed by the positive changes she has made to her life.

He gave her an 18-month community order with 100 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation days.

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During Williams’ trial it was heard that he was being “hunted down” by 29-year-old Mr Wass and associates that fateful day.

CCTV showed balaclava-wearing Mr Wass and his friends in convoy in the Chapeltown area looking for Williams.

Williams, who was walking with his dog, was then seen running as the cars approached.

After catching up with him, Williams plunged the knife into Mr Wass, a father-of-two from Roundhay, who died within minutes.

He always admitted killing Mr Wass, but denied murder and was subsequently cleared.