‘There’s no war in the UK, so why was Yousef murdered?’
Agony of victim’s family in Lebanon
THE heartbroken aunt of the private schoolboy knifed to death in a suburban street told last night of her struggle to come to terms with his death.
Desiree Makki, who lives in Lebanon, said she could not understand how Yousef Makki was killed in a ‘very safe country’ where there is no war.
The gifted student, 17, died in the wealthy Cheshire village of Hale Barns on Saturday. His exceptional ability meant he had won a scholarship to the prestigious Manchester Grammar School.
He had been studying four A-levels and had hopes of studying medicine and becoming a heart surgeon when he was murdered.
Holding back tears, Mrs Makki said: ‘How has Yousef gone? How has he gone, and in a very safe country?
‘A country that respects humans. I don’t know. He doesn’t deserve to go this way, especially in Britain. There is no war.’ Mrs Makki said her brother – Yousef’s father Ghaleb, who moved to Britain from Beirut 20 years ago – would always say: ‘Sister, come, come, it is safe here’.
She added: ‘I have children here and I fear for them in Lebanon. There’s always security issues with Israel.
‘I always wanted to go to Britain. I would tell Mazen (Yousef’s 15- year- old brother) I wish I could take my kids and bring them over to you guys.’
Describing her murdered nephew, Mrs Makki added: ‘ He was a very special person.
‘Yousef from when he was a young kid he was a very smart child, very conscientious, from the day he was born.
‘When he was 11 he got a scholarship to study at Manchester Grammar School.
‘He wanted to be someone. Even at home he was always creating things. He always wanted to do something, he was very smart and intelligent. He was very affectionate.
‘He was in his last year at school and he wanted to apply for medicine and his dream was to be a heart surgeon.’
Mrs Makki said Yousef – who lived with his father and mother Deborah in Burnage, Manchester – would often visit Lebanon and ‘really loved’ the small Middle Eastern country, which has recovered from a devastating civil war during the 1970s and 1980s.
On his Facebook profile, Yousef even referred to himself as being from the country, although he and his mother were born in Manchester.
She added: ‘ His parents got married in the UK but would come back to visit. Sometimes the boys would also come alone.
‘He’s not a memory, he will be with us forever. The (police) investigation is under way but I want you to shed light on the fact that Yousef was not given the chance to live the life he deserved.
‘Conscientious and affectionate’
‘He was not able to achieve the things he would have achieved. Please shed light on Yousef’s personality. How conscientious and affectionate he was.’
A teenager suspected of inflicting the fatal wound lives two miles away in Hale with his parents who have both established successful businesses. The second teenager lives with his father – also a successful businessman – and mother in a large, gated property just a few streets from where Yousef bled to death and, like the other two boys, attends private school.
Last night Greater Manchester Police said a 17-year-old boy had been charged with Yousef Makki’s murder.
He has also been charged with possession of a bladed article. A second 17-year-old boy has been charged with assisting an offender and possession of a bladed article.
The boys, neither of whom can be named due to their age, were kept in custody overnight to appear before youth court in Manchester this morning.