Teen killers named after judge refers to knife campaign
REPORTING RESTRICTIONS LIFTED OVER ‘ACUTE PUBLIC CONCERN’
THE two teenagers who murdered Khayri Mclean as he walked home from school have been named after a judge lifted their anonymity - referencing the Examiner’s anti-knife crime campaign in the process.
Khayri’s killers were named yesterday as Jakele Pusey, 15, and Jovani Harriott, 17. As Mrs Justice Farbey DBE lifted the reporting restriction giving them anonymity, she referenced our campaign Bin the knife, save a life, which has been highlighting the devastating impact of knife crime on young people in West Yorkshire like Khayri.
The BBC and PA Media applied for the anonymity orders preventing the identification of Pusey and Harriott to be lifted, supported by other news organisations including the Examiner.
In PA’s representation to the judge it cited the “widespread public concern” about knife crime among young people and our work to get authorities in Huddersfield and beyond to back the campaign.
The applications stressed the overwhelming public concern about teenage knife crime, as evidenced by the media interest in this case.
They suggested that naming defendants in cases like this boosted media interest which added to the deterrent effect of the lengthy sentences handed down to the perpetrators.
Richard Wright KC, for Pusey, said his client was barely 15 when the murder took place and outlined his very challenging upbringing.
Mr Wright said identification in the media would have a detrimental effect on Pusey’s rehabilitation, stressing that his frank admissions about his gangrelated lifestyle was a sign he was facing up to his wrongdoing.
The barrister also challenged the contention that identifying defendants aided deterrence, saying he had not seen any evidence of this and, in his experience, the children who perpetrated these kinds of offence did not think about the consequences at all.
Mohammed Nawaz KC, for Harriott,
Examiner said his client was making good progress in custody and was concerned that naming him would have a “real risk of undermining” this.
But the court heard that his client is only a few months from his 18th birthday, when he could be named anyway.
The judge said it was a difficult balance between her responsibilities towards the welfare of the two young defendants and principle of open justice – especially with an offence as serious as this one.
Lifting the order, she made reference to the “acute public concern at a national level” about knife crime and the “particular concern in Huddersfield”, where a number of teenagers have died in recent years.
She said: “Khayri was murdered, aged 15, unarmed, in a public street near a school at the end of the school day when schoolchildren came teeming out.
“There is a strong public interest in the full reporting of a murder so close to a school.”
Pusey and Harriott were named at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday following their sentencing hearing. Pusey, who pleaded guilty to murdering Khayri, was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years.
Harriott, who was found guilty of murder at his trial in March, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 18 years.
Khayri’s tragic death hasn’t been unique in Huddersield. Two teenagers will stand trial in July accused of the murder of 17-year-old Harley Brown.
Khayri’s friend Alfie Wilkinson summed up calls to combat knife crime as he spoke after Khayri’s death, saying: “Something needs to change”. ‘Bin the knife, save a life’ has been highlighting the horrific impact of knife crime on communities in West Yorkshire, as well as the work being done to prevent it.
The campaign has been supported by local MPs, and welcomed by authorities like West Yorkshire Police and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority who are working across the region to stop young people carrying knives.