The family of a 17-year-old boy who was tragically stabbed has been successful in obtaining a new investigation into his death.
In March 2019, Joshua Molnar attacked Yousef Makki with a knife following an altercation in Hale Barns, Greater Manchester. He was found not guilty of manslaughter and murder.
A subsequent investigation ruled out both intentional homicide and accidental death and reached a narrative conclusion.
Yousef’s family was given a judicial review last year, which has now overturned the initial conclusions.
Alison Mutch, the senior coroner for Greater Manchester South, concluded that she could not be certain of the “exact sequence of events” that led to Yousef’s death.
The High Court in Manchester, however, has rejected this conclusion.
Lady Justice Macur and Mr. Justice Fordham rendered their decision and ordered a new investigation to be conducted by a different coroner.
Last year, the family of Yousef from Burnage, Manchester, was permitted a judicial review.
They contested Ms. Mutch’s claim that there was inadequate evidence about the “central issue” of whether Yousef’s death was unlawful.
The “burden of proof”
Molnar, who was 17 at the time of the stabbing, claimed self-defense and told the jury that knives were produced after an altercation with his friend broke out.
The court heard that Molnar, Yousef, and another juvenile, Adam Chowdhary, carried blades that evening.
Molnar was sentenced to 16 months in prison for possessing a knife in a public place. And perverting the course of justice by lying to police at the scene of the crime.
Even though Molnar had been acquitted of murder and manslaughter, Makki family attorneys contended at the initial inquest that the coroner may still decide that Yousef was unjustly slain.
According to them, this was because the burden of proof in inquests was far lower than in criminal proceedings.
In the former, the case must be proven “on the balance of probabilities” rather than “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Molnar’s attorney at the inquest, Alistair Webster, QC, stated that Yousef’s death was a “horrible accident.”
Jade Akoum, Yousef’s sister, said she was “overwhelmed” after learning that a new inquiry had been authorized. She had been anticipating bad news.
She stated, “They have given us a second chance and hope… to shed light on what transpired.
“Yousef merits this – we shall proceed”
Yousef’s family has established the Yousef Makki Foundation to assist Greater Manchester’s disadvantaged youth with their schooling.
Despite coming from modest beginnings, Yousef was fortunate enough to attend Manchester Grammar School on a full bursary scholarship, and he desired to become a heart surgeon after graduating from college,” the family said when they launched the campaign in March.
They believed that Yousef would have wanted them to do something good in his name.
