A teenage grammar school boy who was stabbed in the heart with a flick knife was unlawfully killed, a coroner has concluded.
Ex-public schoolboy Joshua Molnar, now aged 22, was cleared of the murder and manslaughter of his friend Yousef Makki, 17, after a trial at Manchester Crown Court in July 2019.
Molnar told the jury he acted in self-defence after Yousef pulled a blade on him first and “came on” to his knife, during a row in upmarket Hale Barns, near Altrincham, Greater Manchester, on March 2 2019.
At an inquest in November 2021 a coroner concluded she could not be sure what happened but ruled out accident or unlawful killing.
The High Court later quashed the findings and ordered a second inquest with a new coroner, which concluded on Wednesday.
In a lengthy ruling, coroner Geraint Williams concluded that Yousef did not have a knife at the time of his death as claimed, and Molnar had not acted in self-defence and did not believe he needed to use a knife to defend himself.
Mr Williams said: “I find as a fact Yousef Makki did not use a knife to threaten or attack Joshua Molnar.
“I also find use of a knife unnecessary, disproportionate and unreasonable. I conclude he did not act in lawful self-defence.
“Therefore, I conclude that Mr Makki was unlawfully killed is fully made out by the evidence.”
