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Yousef Makki case: Boy, 17, cleared of stabbing teenager to death | Yousef Makki case: Boy, 17, cleared of stabbing teenager to death |
(32 minutes later) | |
A boy has been cleared of murdering a 17-year-old who was stabbed in the heart with a flick knife. | |
Manchester Grammar School pupil Yousef Makki was attacked in Hale Barns, Greater Manchester, on 2 March. | |
A 17-year-old, who was referred to as Boy A, was accused of stabbing him to death in a row over an attempt to rob a drug dealer. | A 17-year-old, who was referred to as Boy A, was accused of stabbing him to death in a row over an attempt to rob a drug dealer. |
The boy denied murder, claiming he acted in self-defence, and was also found not guilty of manslaughter. | |
The jury reached its decision after a four-week trial at Manchester Crown Court. | |
Following the verdict, Yousef's father Ghaleb Makki exploded in anger and the judge, Mr Justice Bryan, cleared the courtroom. | |
Mr Makki swore and shouted: "Where's the justice for my son? Where's the justice?" | Mr Makki swore and shouted: "Where's the justice for my son? Where's the justice?" |
Yousef, from a single-parent Anglo-Lebanese family from Burnage, south Manchester, had won a scholarship to the prestigious £12,000-a-year school. | Yousef, from a single-parent Anglo-Lebanese family from Burnage, south Manchester, had won a scholarship to the prestigious £12,000-a-year school. |
He was stabbed in the village, which is popular with footballers and celebrities. | |
A second teenager, also 17 and referred to as Boy B, was found not guilty of perverting the course of justice and not guilty of conspiracy to rob. | A second teenager, also 17 and referred to as Boy B, was found not guilty of perverting the course of justice and not guilty of conspiracy to rob. |
Both had previously admitted possessing a knife and Boy A pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. | |
The jury heard the stabbing was an "accident waiting to happen" as all three boys indulged in "idiotic fantasies" playing middle class gangsters. | |
Despite the privileged backgrounds of both defendants, they led "double lives", the court was told. | |
Calling each other "Bro" and "Fam" and the police "Feds", the defendants and Yousef smoked cannabis and listened to rap and drill music, the court had earlier heard. | |
They would post videos on social media, making threats and posing with "shanks" or knives. | |
Boy A had earlier admitted perverting the course of justice by lying to police. | |
Boy B also admitted possessing a flick knife. | |
Both defendants are due to be sentenced for those charges on 25 July. | |
Both boys were also cleared of conspiracy to commit robbery in the lead-up to Yousef's death. | |
Robbery gone wrong | |
Hours before the fatal stabbing, Boy B arranged a £45 cannabis deal and the teenagers planned to rob the drug dealer - a "soft target", the trial heard. | |
But the robbery went wrong and Yousef and Boy B fled, leaving Boy A to take a beating. | |
Boy A then later pushed Yousef who punched him in the face. | |
He told the jury Yousef pulled out a knife and he responded by also taking out a knife and his victim was accidentally stabbed. | |
As the victim lay dying, the defendants hid the knives in bushes and down a drain, dialled 999 and tried to staunch Yousef's chest wound. | |
A passing heart surgeon performed emergency surgery in the back of an ambulance but Yousef suffered catastrophic blood loss. | |
The defendants told police they had found Yousef stabbed and suggested others were responsible. |