Two 15-year-old boys who viciously attacked teenager Muhammad Hassam Ali while he enjoyed a hot chocolate in Birmingham‘s city centre with a friend have been found guilty.
One of the boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons because of their age, has been convicted of murder and possession of a knife, while the other has been convicted of manslaughter and possession of a bladed article, West Midlands Police said.
The pair will be sentenced in October.
Detective Inspector Michelle Thurgood, who led the investigation, said: ‘Sadly this is another case that of young men carrying a knife, and being willing to use it with catastrophic consequences.
‘Muhammad had simply been enjoying a day out with a friend. There’s no evidence at all that he knew either of the boys who went on to kill him, and no evidence he was involved in any earlier attack.
Two 15-year-old schoolboys are facing jail after being convicted of stabbing a teenager, Muhammad Hassan Ali (pictured) to death in a city centre
Muhammad (pictured), had met a friend for a hot chocolate on a winter’s day when he was knifed in broad daylight in Birmingham on January 20. He was stabbed through the heart after being approached by two masked youths as he sat near a fountain known as the Floozie in the Jacuzzi in Victoria Square. They had had followed the pair and demanded to know where they were from and if they were responsible for an earlier attack on one of their friends, which they weren’t
‘This appalling violence which causes misery on families has to stop. We are relentless in our work to tackle knife crime, arresting those who do carry blades, and helping to educate those who could be drawn into that lifestyle.
‘But we need help. We need help from parents, guardians, teachers – anyone who cares for young people. I’d urge them to share Muhammad’s story with the young people in their lives and to really consider the devastating consequences it has had for everyone involved.’
Muhammad, 17, died after he was knifed in the heart in broad daylight on January 20 this year as he sat in Victoria Square.
The schoolboys had followed the pair and demanded to know where they were from and if they were responsible for an earlier attack on one of their friends, which they weren’t.
Muhammad had told them to go away, at which point one of the boys pulled out a large knife and stabbed him in the chest.
The perpetrators were captured on CCTV following Muhammad and his friend through Grand Central Shopping Centre and Birmingham New Street Station before approaching them in Victoria Square.
Giving evidence at Coventry Crown Court earlier this week, one of the boys told jurors he didn’t intend to kill Muhammad saying: ‘I just wanted to frighten them, I didn’t want to do anything with [the knife].’
He told his barrister Michael Ivers KC that he carried a knife for protection having previously been assaulted with weapons, and also regularly wore a Covid-style blue mask so people did not recognize him.
As he was shown CCTV of their interaction, the defendant was asked by Mr Ivers why he kept putting his hand down to his right side.
He said: ‘I thought they were going to do something so I was trying to frighten them, to let them know I had something on me.
‘I just wanted to frighten them, I didn’t want to do anything with [the knife]. I don’t remember what they were saying, but it was like “f**k off” or “p**s off”. They were getting more aggressive.’
When asked by Mr Ivers why he did not walk away, the defendant said: ‘If I turned my back, something might have happened to me, they might have assaulted me.
Muhammad Hassam Ali, 17, died after he was knifed in the heart on January 20 this year in Birmingham’s city centre
The two schoolboys were captured on CCTV following Muhammad and his friend before approaching them in Victoria Square (Pictured: Officers in the square a day after the knifing)
Two 15-year-old boys have been on trial for Muhammad’s murder at Coventry Crown Court
‘It was more and more aggressive, Ali was saying he was going to do something.
‘I have been attacked before in my life, I don’t want to get assaulted again. I was scared.’
Describing the moment Ali was stabbed, he said: ‘I have had times in the past when people have pulled things out on me and I never expected it.
‘When I pulled [the knife] out I had it by my side, they were getting more and more aggressive in their speaking and movement.
‘I put [the knife] in front of me, [Ali] leaned back and I thought he was going to do something to me and the knife went into him.’
He said he did not realize Muhammad had been stabbed until he looked back as he ran up the steps in Victoria Square and saw Muhammad’s friend holding the victim’s chest.
He said he ran because he was ‘panicking’. He also told jurors that he only found out Muhammad had died when he saw it on the news the next day.
This comes just as a recent report showed that the number of children being seriously hurt by knives in England and Wales rose 47 per cent in just 10 years.
The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) warned in its latest report that serious violence involving knives has increased significantly in recent years, impacting some of Britain’s most deprived communities the most.
The London-based non-profit noted that police have ‘failed’ to solve most crimes, investigating only nine per cent of cases successfully, down from 25 per cent ten years ago – as funding for essential resources aimed at prevention have dried up.
The report notes spending on young people’s services has ‘more than halved’ since 2012-13, with many more children finding themselves in care, in absolute poverty or being referred to mental health services – weakening the ‘safety nets’ in place to support the most vulnerable.
Black children were more than six times more likely to be murdered compared to their share of the population in 2022-23 – a difference that has ‘narrowed’ recently, but remains worse than it was ten years ago.
