UK

Teenager guilty of murdering 15-year-old Khayri Mclean near school

Teenager guilty of murdering 15-year-old Khayri Mclean near school

A 17-year-old has been found guilty of murdering a schoolboy last year.

Khayri Mclean, 15, was stabbed while making his way home from North Huddersfield Trust School in the West Yorkshire town on 21 September last year, Leeds Crown Court was told.

The 17-year-old, who was 16 at the time, was accused of being one of two teenagers who attacked Khayri after lying in wait for him wearing balaclavas and carrying knives.

Khayri left the school on Woodhouse Hall Road with his friends.

He was met by the defendant and his 15-year-old co-accused, who “charged” towards him aggressively.

The 15-year-old, who has already pleaded guilty to murder, stabbed Khayri in the chest with a 30cm blade.

It proved to be a fatal blow as it went through Khayri’s ribs and penetrated one of his lungs and heart.

Image:
Floral tributes at the scene where Khayri was fatally stabbed in September last year

Khayri fell to the floor and was “defenceless on his back” when the 17-year-old defendant, who denied murder, stabbed him in his lower leg.

The older boy was tried because prosecutors said that, although he did not inflict the fatal blow, he acted with his co-accused and they “encouraged and supported each other to carry out the attack”.

Read more:
Teenager stabbed because he “joined a gang and left”, court hears
Attackers came ‘straight at’ Khayri, say friends

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed he was running with a knife in his hand when he swung at Khayri’s leg because he thought the 15-year-old was trying to “kick me to the floor”.

He told the court he did not realise he had stabbed Khayri in the leg until later.

Police cordon and floral tributes near the scene in Woodhouse Hill, Huddersfield, where a 15-year-old boy was stabbed and later died in hospital on Wednesday. Picture date: Thursday September 22, 2022.
Image:
A police cordon near the scene of the stabbing in September last year

The teenager also told jurors that he had gone to the school with his co-accused and had waited in an alley for another teenager they believed had smashed his mother’s front window.

He admitted he took a knife with him and had his face covered, but told jurors he was just looking for a “fist fight” with the boy.

The court also heard how a friend of Khayri’s told police he believed the teenager was attacked because he had “joined a gang and had left”.

During the trial, Jonathan Sandiford KC, prosecuting, told the jury the pair carried out a “well-planned and targeted attack on Khayri Mclean with the intention of killing him or at least causing him really serious harm”.

The judge, Mrs Justice Farbey, said that there will be a hearing on Thursday to discuss the next steps in the case, but sentencing will take place at a later date to be fixed.