A French rapper has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the murder of a young man in Paris in 2018.

MHD, whose real name is Mohamed Sylla, was found guilty of the killing of 23-year-old Loic K, according to French broadcaster BFM TV.

Five other defendants were also jailed over the killing and received terms between 10 and 18 years. Three men were acquitted.

In his final statement to the court, MHD insisted he was innocent.

“From the beginning, I have maintained my innocence in this case and I will continue to maintain my innocence,” he said, according to the AFP news agency.

Loic K died on the night of 5 July 2018, when he was rammed by a black Mercedes and then beaten up and stabbed by about a dozen people in Paris’s 10th arrondissement.

MHD denied being at the scene, but a local resident filmed the attack from his window and the Mercedes was identified as belonging to the rapper, AFP reported.

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The news agency said other witnesses identified him by his haircut and a jumper.

MHD is known for blending trap music with the music of West Africa in a genre he coined “Afro Trap”.

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