Khayri Mclean: Boy fatally stabbed because he 'left gang', court hears

Khayri Mclean died after he was stabbed near North Huddersfield Trust School in September 2022

A friend of a teenager who was fatally stabbed near his school told police the boy was attacked because he "joined a gang and had left", a court has heard.

Khayri McLean, 15, died in a "well-planned" attack by two youths near North Huddersfield Trust School on 21 September, Leeds Crown court was told.

Evidence from a friend of Khayri's described how one boy wielded a knife "like a ninja" before stabbing him.

A 15-year-old male admits murder, while a 17-year-old male denies it.

Prosecutor George Hazel-Owram read a statement to the court from a 15-year-old friend of Khayri's, who was one of several boys walking up Woodhouse Hill with the teenager moments before he was stabbed.

In his statement, the boy, who said he had been friends with Khayri since primary school, described being in class earlier that day and seeing two people "dressed in black from head to toe" heading across a nearby field.

He then detailed how, as Khayri and his friends approached an alleyway later, "two people wearing balaclavas, sunglasses and gloves leapt out, with one shouting, 'Yo, Khayri'."

'People screaming'

He described how one of the attackers ran straight at Khayri and "jumped in the air", swinging the knife towards the teenager's shoulder "like some kind of ninja".

Reading from the statement, Mr Hazel-Owram said: "At first he thought it might have been a joke, but then he saw a knife and knew it wasn't."

The prosecutor added that the boy could hear Khayri "screaming very loudly" and "everyone started running away and he could hear people screaming".

Mr Hazel-Owram said the friend had told police "he thought this incident had happened because Khayri was in a gang and had left the gang".

"He thought Khayri had joined the gang part way through Year 10. He had seen Khayri post about the gang on social media."

Another friend of the 15-year-old, who witnessed what happened, said the attackers "had been waiting for Khayri and recognised him".

"They knew who Khayri was. They were aggressive and it was clear they wanted to hurt Khayri badly," Mr Hazel-Owram said.

Jurors were shown CCTV footage of the attack, which captured Khayri being helped to his feet by a friend and walking back towards school where he collapsed minutes later.

The court was told how passer-by Dr Safa Kaftain stopped to help Khayri and performed CPR before the rapid response ambulance arrived.

'Encouraged and supported'

After the stabbing, footage captured Khayri's attackers running away from Woodhouse Hill and across nearby fields.

The jury also heard that dozens of messages had been exchanged between one of the defendants and his mother not long after the attack happened.

Mr Hazel-Owram said the nature of these messages included his mother asking where he was and telling him to answer his phone.

One of the messages from the defendant's mother read: "Your enemy has been stabbed and it doesn't look good and you wanna turn your phone off.

"I swear if you don't call me and tell me where you are and who you're with, I will take that as the most massive diss ever."

Prosecutors said that although the older teenager did not inflict the fatal blow, he was guilty of murder because he acted with his co-accused and they "encouraged and supported each other to carry out the attack".

The trial continues.