Yusuf Mohamed: Two guilty of Shepherd's Bush stabbing

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-51155692

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Two teenagers have been found guilty of stabbing an 18-year-old to death with Rambo-style knives before giving each other a fist bump.

William Haines, 18, and a 17-year-old boy set upon Yusuf Mohamed outside a food shop in Shepherd's Bush, west London, on 26 June last year.

Following a trial at the Old Bailey, Haines was found guilty of murder and possessing a blade.

His co-accused was cleared of murder but admitted manslaughter.

'Stabbed in the heart'

The trial heard how Mr Mohamed had been walking on Uxbridge Road with friends when he was targeted "for no obvious reason" by the defendants, who were both armed with large knives.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones said: "Suddenly, and for no obvious reason, the two defendants crossed the road towards Yusuf and his friends.

"Yusuf Mohamed had no time to run away, he had no time to do anything to protect himself. Unlike his attackers, he was not carrying a weapon. He stood no chance."

Haines, who reached him first, acted with "brutal efficiency" as he swung his blade at the victim and stabbed him in his heart.

The prosecutor told jurors: "Seeing Yusuf collapse to the floor, and as Yusuf desperately tried to retreat, crawling backwards on his elbows, (the 17-year-old) took out his own knife and followed him, stabbing him in the leg as he lay defenceless.

"As the two young men ran away, tucking their knives back out of sight, they gave each other a fist bump as if to say, 'Well done us'."

Mr Mohamed died later that night.

Jurors were shown "distressing" CCTV footage of the attack on Mr Mohamed outside the Intercontinental Foods shop.

Haines, of Acton, west London, had accepted being the person in the CCTV footage but claimed he could not remember the incident in the footage, having had a drink.

Following the verdicts, the defendants were remanded into custody to be sentenced on 24 February.