‘Teen gangster killed after straying into rival territory’
COURT TOLD 18-YEAR-OLD WAS AMBUSHED BY UP TO 13 PEOPLE
A TEENAGE gang member was hunted down, beaten and stabbed to death by a mob after he was spotted in rival territory, a murder trial was told.
Abdul Wahab Hafidah, 18, was pursued through Moss Side and across one of Manchester’s main commuter routes in front of shocked motorists during the evening rushhour before he was cornered and attacked with hammers and knives, a court heard.
Mr Hafidah suffered fatal injuries during the attack on Moss Lane East close to its junction with Princess Road on March 12 last year.
He had allegedly been savagely beaten by up to 13 people and died in hospital two days later.
Six young men and a boy of 15, all said to be members of a rival gang, deny murder.
Nicholas Johnson QC, opening the case for the Crown, told a jury at Manchester Crown Court: “On May 12 last year he was chased by a gang through the streets of Moss Side.
“The chase ended up with him being stabbed and beaten on Moss Lane East near to its junction with Princess Road. The injuries he suffered killed him two days later.”
Mr Johnson said 13 people were involved in the attack, with the first tranche of seven defendants being tried now and the remainder later this year.
He told the jury Mr Hafidah had been chased by a rival gang, adding: “It is the prosecution case that Abdul Wahab Hafidah was himself the member of a gang and had gone into the territory of a rival gang. “The defendants are all members of, affiliated to, or sympathisers with, that rival gang.” CCTV footage played to the jury showed a group had gathered on Westwood Street in Moss Side and spent about 15 minutes chasing him on foot, on bicycles and in two cars, a Vauxhall Corsa and a Vauxhall Astra. Describing how the pursuing group went in different directions to chase Mr Hafidah, Mr Johnson said: “What I suggest you are watching is a flanking manoeuvre. “It’s like a pack chasing its quarry.” The prosecution say the pack consisted of rival gang members. Mr Hafidah, apparently spotting the gang, is seen trying to hide in a derelict property and then beside an advertising hoarding before being chased across Princess Road. He was cornered on Moss Lane East close to Moss Side fire station. The court heard that a post-mortem examination had concluded Mr Hafidah had died because of two stab wounds to the neck. Durrell Ford, 20, of Darncombe Close in Moss Side; William George, 21, of Cowesby Street in Moss Side; Devonte Neish, 18, of Nell Lane in Manchester; Delroy Wright, 18, of Grange Street in Moss Side; Nathaniel Jermaine Williams, 18, of Hebburn Walk in Rusholme; Devonte Cantrell, 20, of no fixed abode, and a boy of 15, who cannot be named for legal reasons, all deny murder. Proceeding Prosecutor Nicholas Johnson QC