Yousef Makki: Stabbed boy's family win fight for new inquest

The family of a 17-year-old boy who was fatally stabbed have won their fight to have a fresh inquest into his death.

Joshua Molnar stabbed Yousef Makki with a knife during a row in Hale Barns, Greater Manchester, in March 2019. He was cleared of manslaughter and murder.

An inquest later recorded a narrative conclusion and ruled out both unlawful killing and accidental death.

Yousef’s family were granted a judicial review, which has now quashed the original inquest’s findings.

Alison Mutch, senior coroner for Greater Manchester South, had concluded she could not be sure of the “precise sequence of events” leading to Yousef’s death.

But the High Court, sitting in Manchester, has rejected that conclusion and directed a fresh inquest before a different coroner.

Yousef’s family, from Burnage, Manchester, were granted permission for a judicial review last year.

They challenged Ms Mutch’s assertion that there was insufficient evidence on the “central issue” of whether Yousef’s killing had been unlawful.

During his trial, Manchester Crown Court heard Molnar had claimed self-defence and told the jury that knives were produced after an argument.

The court heard Molnar, Yousef and another youth, Adam Chowdhary, had all carried knives that night.

Molnar was subsequently jailed for 16 months for possession of a knife in a public place and perverting the course of justice by lying to police at the scene.

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