Teenager who stabbed Yousef Makki named
THE parents of the teenager who stabbed Yousef Makki say they spend “every waking hour” thinking about what they could have done better.
Cheadle Hulme School pupil Joshua Molnar fatally stabbed his friend, Manchester Grammar School pupil Yousef, in Hale Barns in March.
However, he was unanimously acquitted of murder and manslaughter by a jury at Manchester Crown Court after they accepted his insistence he acted in selfdefence.
He is currently serving a sentence in a young offender’s institution after admitting possession of a knife and perverting the course of justice after initially telling police someone else had inflicted the wound.
The court order preventing the identity of Molnar being known lapses as he this week turns 18.
And as his name was published for the first time, his parents have spoken out and have expressed their sympathy for Yousef’s parents as well as deep regret.
In an interview with the Sunday Times magazine, Molnar’s mother Stephanie said she and her husband, Mark, have spent “every waking hour” since Yousef ’s death “trying to understand what we could have done better throughout Josh’s life, to have encouraged better choices to be made in the years leading up to that night”.
“The difference is that our son is still alive,” she added.
“It’s hard for us to think about the future, but at least we have the possibility of one.
“They (Yousef’s parents) haven’t even got that chance.”
Yousef’s mother Debbie has previously said she would like to speak to Joshua about what happened that night.
In response Mrs Molnar said: “Of course she does; of course she wants to know why. Her son’s gone. It’s totally senseless - it’s a total waste of all their lives.”
“I cannot imagine what Yousef’s parents and family must be going through as they try to come to terms with this,” Mrs Molnar told the Express in a statement.
“Joshua fully accepts responsibility for Yousef’s death in the act of selfdefence and the impact of this acceptance is massive.
“He will have to live with the responsibility of his role in this for the rest of his life.
“We are also acutely aware that the hurt and loss that Yousef’s family is experiencing are infinitely greater than anything we are going through and nothing I can say can make up for or change that.
“There were no winners in this case.”