Joshua Molnar was cleared of the murder of teenager Yousef Makki in a highly-publicised trial three years ago. Yousef, then 17 and a pupil at Manchester Grammar School, died after he was stabbed on March 2, 2019, during a row over a cannabis deal that went wrong in Hale Barns, Greater Manchester.
Molnar, who was also 17, stabbed his friend Makki with a knife through the heart. Molnar was acquitted of manslaughter and murder, however, after he claimed self-defence and was cleared by a jury at Manchester Crown Court in 2019.
Footage shared for the first time yesterday (March 20) by the Manchester Evening News showed police body-cam clips, with a tearful Molnar seen blaming the attack on someone who he claimed had fled in a silver hatchback. The footage was previously played at his 2019 trial and an inquest last year, where a coroner refused a media application led by the M.E.N. for it to be released.
But now it is to be published as part of a Channel 4 documentary Killed By A Rich Kid which will be broadcast tonight (Monday) at 9pm. It was obtained following a long legal battle by the makers of the documentary. It looks into the events that resulted in the death of Yousef and the trial that followed.
Despite being cleared of Yousef's murder, Molnar, a former Cheadle Hulme School pupil, was sentenced to a 16-month detention and training order for possession of a knife in a public place and perverting the course of justice by lying to police at the scene. He was released in February 2020 but appeared in court again in June last year, after police found an iPhone in his bedroom which had been robbed in a violent mugging.
The iPhone was initially found by police investigating Yousef's death in a dressing table drawer at Molnar's home. Officers were later able to access the phone and learned it belonged to a young man who had been subjected to a 'violent mugging' near Wilmslow Leisure Centre.
There was 'no evidence or suggestion' Molnar was involved in the attack, the court heard, but he had previously denied handling stolen goods before he changed his plea. The court heard that Molnar 'couldn't have come into possession of the phone in legitimate circumstances, though the precise detail of that are in his own knowledge'.
He was handed a 12 month conditional discharge for handling the stolen phone following the hearing in July 2021. He was warned by the judge that he must stay out of trouble for 12 months but the hearing heard he had made 'real strides' and has 'impressed' the youth justice service since being released from custody.
Makki was a teenager from a humble family in Burnage who had won a bursary to attend the elite Manchester Grammar School and died later in hospital following the incident. The documentary also features Yousef's tearful sister, Jade Akoum, who is leading a campaign for the case to be revisited.
Describing the show, Channel 4 says "In March 2019, Yousef Makki was stabbed in the heart by a friend in a wealthy Manchester suburb. This documentary takes a forensic look at the killing and subsequent trial of the friend." You can catch up online here.
