‘THERE WAS A TOTAL LACK OF REMORSE’
YESTERDAY, THE M.E.N. WAS ABLE TO NAME JOSHUA MOLNAR AS THE TEENAGER WHO STABBED TRAGIC YOUSEF MAKKI IN THE HEART EARLIER THIS YEAR. NOW YOUSEF’S MOTHER REVEALS THE PAIN OF HER LOSS AND ANGER OVER MOLNAR’S TRIAL
As the teenager who fatally stabbed her son is named for the first time, Yousef Makki’s mother reveals her anger and pain to the M.E.N.
FRIENDS and family of Yousef Makki gathered at the side of his grave in Southern Cemetery last week to remember him on what would have been his 18th birthday.
His parents Debbie and Ghaleb, sister Jade and about 20 of Yousef’s friends from Manchester Grammar School gathered by his humble plot, which is decorated with flowers and pictures of Yousef.
They remembered their son, brother and friend and shared ‘shawarma’ kebab meat.
Yousef, the son of a Lebanese father and English mother, was proud of his Middle Eastern heritage and shawarma was his favourite food. He was just as proud of being English.
His family are determined to keep his memory alive, although the pain of his loss hasn’t diminished seven months after he was killed. In fact, it’s getting worse.
His mother Debbie, 54, a mother-of-four, admitted as much when she spoke movingly, three days earlier, to the M.E.N. at the home in Burnage where she raised Yousef.
This is a family home full of happy memories. In the back garden, Yousef was always bouncing around, shadow-boxing, playing basketball or jumping on the trampoline. It’s why he was nicknamed Yo-Yo. Debbie, who used to work as a drug and alcohol counsellor, lives in Chorlton these days but her daughter Jade now calls it home, bringing up her own three children there.
“It’s worse now than the evening it happened. They say time heals but it doesn’t,” admits Debbie when asked whether the passage of time had eased the pain.
Her younger son, now 15, hasn’t been to school for six months, struggled to get out of bed and has had a tough time trying to come to terms with the loss of his brother, admits Debbie. “They were like twins really. They were so close. Yousef was more outgoing and he was more shy. They were very close,” she said.
He looked up to Yousef and his achievements.
Whatever Yousef did, he wanted to excel,
and not just academically. He landed ten A grade GCSEs, seven of them A star grades. One of them was Mandarin Chinese.
“From the age of four, he loved learning. At primary school his teacher used to leave him in charge of the class. He knew exactly what he wanted to be, either a brain surgeon or a heart surgeon,” said Debbie.
“Even at boxing or basketball, he was always the best. Everything he did he always did it 100 per cent.”
Debbie remains angry at the trial process. They had to follow proceedings in an upstairs public gallery where they struggled to hear or see the proceedings below, while the families of the defendants were allowed to sit in the courtroom on seats close to the dock.
Unlike Josh Molnar’s family, they were in no position to hire private security, and subsequently a public relations firm, to represent their interests.
“The way we were treated it was like we were the guilty ones”, Debbie said. “We were shoved upstairs in the public gallery.
“We couldn’t hear or see anything. People were coming in off the street and sitting next to us, eating their sandwiches.
“We had to read updates on the M.E.N. (website). I wanted to sit downstairs in the court but I was told I could not in case I intimidated them (the defendants).
“If we wanted to get through to the police or the CPS we could never get through to them. We had to wait for them to get back to us. They were always busy.”
In response to this, a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: “This is a tragic case and our sympathies remain with Mr Makki’s family.
“Families of victims are offered the use of a private suite and the option of sitting away from a defendant’s family.
“There are headphones available to help families listen to proceedings more clearly and we are looking at the possibility of putting speakers into the upstairs public gallery.”
It’s small comfort to Yousef’s grieving mother, who also makes a number of claims about the defendants’ behaviour. “At court they were always laughing and going up and down the corridors. We used the same toilets”, she said.
“There was a complete lack of remorse. Josh was just sniggering and smiling, winking at Yousef’s friends who were there,” Debbie said.
Another continuing bone of contention for the Makki family was the way Yousef was portrayed in court.
The trial heard he had traces of cannabis in his system while Molnar claimed Yousef also handled knives.
It bothers her that there was no other evidence - beyond testimony, and the fact there were three knives at the scene, that Yousef had a knife that night.
She also finds it hard to believe that Yousef punched Joshua Molnar that night, as the court heard. “I know Yousef. He was fit and strong”, she said. “If he would have punched Josh, he would have knocked him out because he was a good boxer.
“He was crazy about boxing. He did not carry a knife. He could handle himself without that.
“He was respected by lads that grew up here (in Burnage) and he was respected by the socalled posh lads at school.
“They would come to him and he would say he would have a word. He was a peace-maker.”
A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “We know the justice process can be incredibly challenging for grieving families, and working with police, we work hard to make sure they feel as supported as possible.
“We have met with the Yousef Makki’s family since the conclusion of the trial to discuss their concerns about the outcome and their views about the proceedings. We respect the decision of the jury and our deepest sympathies remain with Yousef’s family.”