An application by the family of Yousef Makki to appeal the “lenient” sentences handed out to two teenagers has been refused.
The Solicitor General, Michael Ellis QC MP, has today refused a request to refer the sentences of two teenagers, known in court as Boys A and B, to the Court of Appeal.
In a letter to the family’s lawyer, Matthew Stanbury, Ellis expressed his condolences to the family, but said that in his view the Court of Appeal was “unlikely” to interfere with the sentences imposed.
Yousef died on March 2nd this year after being stabbed once in the heart on Gorse Bank Road in Hale Barns.
A 17-year-old who knifed Yousef, Boy A, was acquitted of murder and manslaughter after successfully arguing he had acted in self-defence.
He did admit to the lesser charges of perverting the course of justice and possession of a knife and was sentenced to a 16-month detention training order, meaning he is likely to be released in just eight months.
Another 17-year-old, Boy B, received a detention and training order for four months for possession of a knife.
The verdicts have since been met with consternation and Yousef’s sister, Jade Akoum, confirmed earlier this month that an application has been submitted to the Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox, asking him to refer the sentences to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme (ULS).
But that will not now take place – and Yousef’s sister, Jade, said the news sent “the wrong message about knife crime”.
She said: “We are disappointed with today’s decision. These sentences send the wrong message about knife crime, with just four months for carrying the knife used to kill my brother, and 12 months for lying to the police about Yousef’s death.
“The government has spoken of being tough on crime but for us this decision shows otherwise. We will be discussing with our legal team the way forward and we will not rest until we have justice for Yousef”.
