Yousef Makki, 17, died of stab wounds on Saturday night. He wanted to be a heart surgeon
Not many lads who grow up in Burnage, Manchester, get to sit A-Levels at a top public school, or spend weekends hanging out with the Cheshire set.
But Yousef Makki was no ordinary young man.
The 17-year-old son of a Lebanese immigrant was a gifted student, and a hugely charismatic and popular figure among his peers, dozens of whom travelled to the spot where he fell to leave floral tributes yesterday.
It was academic brilliance which had apparently won Yousef a scholarship, aged 11, to Manchester Grammar, one of the UK’s most rigorous private schools.
He was killed on a tree-lined street in a wealthy area of Manchester on his way back home from a friend's house at about 6pm. He told his mother he would be home in time for tea
Paul Hughes, the former bodyguard of David Beckham, was first to the scene after Yousef was stabbed
Mr Hughes said: 'We laid Yousef on the road and tried to make him as comfortable as possible. We tried to do what we could for him, but it wasn’t enough. (The knife) must have gone straight though his heart or lungs'
Yousef was loved by many friends and it was Yousef’s popularity which saw him invited to spend Saturday with a classmate in Hale Barns, a wealthy Cheshire village where, early that evening, he was stabbed to death on a tree-lined street
There he became, in the words of one friend, a ‘double A-starred’ pupil who seemed to have the world at his feet.
Tragically, it was Yousef’s popularity which saw him invited to spend Saturday with a classmate in Hale Barns, a wealthy Cheshire village where, early that evening, he was stabbed to death on a tree-lined street.
Roughly ten miles from the terraced former council house where Yousef lived with his mother Deborah and 15-year-old brother, Hale Barns is in effect a world away.
Even average properties here change hands for £800,000, while mansions on the outskirts of the village can go for £5 million. The local supermarket is a branch of Booths, the so-called ‘Waitrose of the North’.
The area where Yousef was stabbed was very wealthy, mansions on the outskirts of the village will sell for up to £5million
Figures show the number of children in England aged 16 and under being stabbed rose by 93% in the five years to 2018
Drive through the village and you’ll see gated driveways filled with spotless super-cars. Several properties are owned by famous footballers – including Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany, and Paul Pogba from Yousef’s beloved Manchester United – while the likes of classical singer Russell Watson and former cricketer Andrew Flintoff live nearby.
That Britain’s knife crime epidemic, once a scourge of the inner cities, should have reached this suburban enclave will only increase fears of a growing crisis in law and order.
The fact the first person on the scene, before even the emergency services, was Paul Hughes – David Beckham’s former bodyguard who now runs a private security firm employed by homeowners who no longer trust the police to keep them safe from burglaries – tells its own troubling story.
Yousef, a clever and articulate young man who dreamed of one day becoming a heart surgeon, is believed to have travelled to Hale Barns on Friday at the invitation of a friend from Manchester Grammar who lives there.
Yousef, a clever and articulate young man who dreamed of one day becoming a heart surgeon, is believed to have travelled to Hale Barns on Friday at the invitation of a friend from Manchester Grammar who lives there
Tributes from friends and family had poured in. The message on the left reads: 'Makki, love you bro! Henri, Joe, Jacob xxx'
Police have arrested two teenage boys, both of whom live locally. They remained in custody last night
At about 6pm the following day, he was preparing to return home when he became involved in a heated altercation while walking along Gorse Bank Road, a quiet street of mostly large detached homes.
What exactly sparked the row remains unclear, but police have denied any explicit links to organised crime or gangs.
Yousef was stabbed some time before 6.30pm, when the first 999 call was made, and died that evening in a nearby hospital.
Police have arrested two teenage boys, both of whom live locally. They remained in custody last night.
Both suspects, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, hail from prosperous middle-class families, with parents who are highly successful businessmen
Mr Hughes yesterday recalled how he came upon three teenagers panicking. He said: ‘One turned around and his shirt was claret – he was covered in blood'
Both suspects, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, hail from prosperous middle-class families, with parents who are highly successful businessmen.
Mr Hughes yesterday recalled how he came upon three teenagers panicking. ‘One turned around and his shirt was claret – he was covered in blood,’ he said.
‘He had one stab wound to the chest. He was half lying in the road. At first, he was responding to what my security
