A teenager who fatally stabbed a grammar schoolboy has admitted handling an iPhone stolen in a violent robbery weeks before the tragedy.
Former public schoolboy Joshua Molnar, 19, knifed Yousef Makki, 17, in the heart during a fight in upmarket Hale Barns, Cheshire, in March 2019.
Molnar, from a wealthy family, told a jury he acted in self-defence as he said Mr Makki, a scholarship pupil at Manchester Grammar School, pulled a knife on him.
He was subsequently cleared of murder and manslaughter.
On Thursday, Molnar appeared at Chester Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to an offence of handling stolen goods and was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge.
He had been due to face trial on the allegation next week after previously denying the offence.
Former public schoolboy Joshua Molnar, 19, (left) knifed Yousef Makki, 17, (right) in the heart during a fight in upmarket Hale Barns, Cheshire, in March 2019
Outlining the facts of the case, which was unconnected to the fatal stabbing, Simon Mills, prosecuting, said: 'A youth was subjected to a violent mugging-type robbery by a large group of male youths at about 7pm on February 17, 2019.
'That offence took place on the streets adjacent to the Wilmslow Leisure Centre. The youth was surrounded, threatened and punched repeatedly. One male took £30 cash from him and another took his white gold-coloured Apple iPhone.
'I should make it clear there is no evidence, no suggestion, that this defendant was involved in that offence.'
The prosecutor said police investigating the death of Mr Makki searched the defendant's then family address in Hale and among items recovered was the Apple phone in the dressing table drawer of his bedroom.
Mr Mills said: 'The police at that stage did not know anything about that phone, they had no idea about its origin. It was locked by pin code which obviously the defendant can't have known.'
Molnar later went on trial in July 2019 at Manchester Crown Court over the death of Mr Makki, where he was also acquitted of conspiracy to commit robbery in the lead-up to Yousef's death. He admitted possession of a knife and perverting the course of justice by initially lying to police about what had happened.
On Thursday, Molnar appeared at Chester Crown Court (pictured) where he pleaded guilty to an offence of handling stolen goods and was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge
The phone stolen in the Wilmslow robbery was formally
