Two men have been arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice over the death of 17-year-old Yousef Makki.
Yousef died from a single stab wound to the heart after an argument with a friend, known as Boy A, in an upmarket part of Greater Manchester on 2 March.
Boy A, who is 17, admitted stabbing Yousef but said he had acted in self-defence and denied murder. He was found not guilty of both murder and manslaughter after a trial at Manchester crown court.
The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, was sentenced to a 16-month detention training order after admitting to perverting the course of justice and possession of a bladed article.
Greater Manchester police said on Monday that two men, aged 18 and 22, had been arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice. The force said: “They have been released under investigation. The arrests relate to the Yousef Makki case.”
Yousef was from an Anglo-Lebanese family in the Burnage area of south Manchester, and had won a scholarship to attend Manchester grammar school, which described him as an “incredibly bright, immensely popular and caring young man”.
He died after a row with his friends, Boy A and Boy B, in the village of Hale Barns. Boy A told the trial he had pulled out a flick-knife because Yousef had produced a knife – a claim challenged by the victim’s family – and Boy A said he had then accidentally stabbed his friend in self-defence.
Boy B, 17, who was not charged with murder or manslaughter, was sentenced to a four-month detention training order after he pleaded guilty to carrying a knife in an incident earlier that day.
Yousef’s family argued that the sentences were unduly lenient and asked the attorney general to refer them to the appeal court so they could be increased.
• This article was edited on 23 August 2019 to amend details relating to Boy B.
