Yousef Makki’s family will have to wait to discover whether a judicial review to quash the narrative conclusion of his inquest has been successful.
Grammar school student Yousef, 17, from Burnage, was fatally stabbed through the heart by his friend Joshua Molnar, during a confrontation in Hale Barns on March 2, 2019. A jury acquitted Molnar of murder and manslaughter later that year.
Molnar was handed a 16-month detention and training order after admitting possessing the knife which inflicted the fatal injury and lying to police at the scene. He says he acted in self-defence, alleging Yousef pushed him and pulled a knife on him.
Following a seven-day inquest at South Manchester Coroner’s Court, senior coroner Alison Mutch said that she could not return a conclusion of ‘unlawful killing’ - saying the 'precise circumstances' surrounding Yousef’s stabbing could not be 'ascertained'. The Makki family have always maintained that Yousef was a ‘peacemaker’ and said they were 'disgusted' with the conclusion.
Today (Monday November 7) a judicial review hearing was held in front of Mr Justice Fordham and Lady Justice Macur at Manchester Civil Justice Centre. Representing Yousef’s family, Peter Weatherby KC argued that Ms Mutch should have 'strived to make a finding' that Yousef's death was accidental or unlawful.
He said: “In essence, the coroner found insufficient evidence on the balance of probabilities that he was unlawfully killed… we say that there was a wealth of evidence.” Mr Weatherby referenced Molnar’s differing accounts that he said changed from what he told police at the scene in the immediate aftermath of the stabbing, to his trial, and eventually the inquest.
After stabbing Yousef, Molnar told police officers that he had been around the corner at the time and had not seen what had happened. He added that the culprits had sped off in a silver hatchback.
During his trial, Molnar changed his story but said that Yousef had brandished his own knife first, before he got his out in self-defence. Then, during the inquest, Molnar said he could not remember who had taken the knife out first.
Mr Weatherby said that Ms Mutch “should have taken account of this discrepancy” and therefore, the “inherent unlikelihood of Mr Molnar’s account.” Mr Weatherby added: “She didn’t go into the lies told and discrepancies which question whether his account can be relied upon at all.”
Mr Weatherby also made reference to the evidence of Yousef and Molnar’s friend Adam Chowdhary, which stated that he saw Yousef clutch his chest and say “he’s stabbed me,” as he collapsed. Chowdhary added that Yousef had then put a retracted knife back into his inside pocket, which Chowdhary then dropped down a grid. "It would be fanciful to suggest he'd taken it out, retracted it and put it in his inside pocket before clutching his chest and said 'he's stabbed me'," Mr Weatherby said.
Another piece of evidence that Mr Weatherby called upon was an altercation between Chowdhary and Molnar, around six minutes before the stabbing, in which Molnar dragged Chowdhary’s coat off him. It followed an incident around an hour and a half before that, in which Molnar had allegedly been assaulted by two men referred to by Mr Weatherby by 'the Choudhry brothers', during which, Chowdhary left to go home.
Of the coat incident, Mr Weatherby added: “This was not some immediate loss of temper or upset… It is significant how angry he is and how it pervaded for 90 minutes, six minutes from when he stabs Yousef.”
Representing Molnar, Alistair Webster KC said: “What this comes down to is advancing the contention that the coroner should have somehow concluded that Adam Chowdhury and Joshua Molnar had come together in some way and Yousef Makki got caught up in that at the very last moment. There is not a jot of evidence to support that.”
Referencing Ms Mutch’s findings, he added: “She came to the conclusion that even on the civil standard of proof, one couldn’t know what had happened. She addressed it correctly on balance of probabilities, looked at each possible conclusion and whether she could come to it. It may be that one could have structured it in a different way but she adequately addressed issues and structured it in a way that was entirely comprehensible.”
Adjourning the hearing, Lady Justice Macur said: “We will not be able to deliver a verdict today. We know that this will be very disappointing, not least for Mr Makki (Yousef’s father) and Ms Akoum (Yousef’s sister). We’re very sorry about it but it’s very important that we consider all these matters.”
She added: “We will try and get a judgement out as soon as possible but we don’t feel it is one that we should rush.”
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