A friend of a teenager fatally stabbed outside his school told police he was attacked because he had “joined a gang and had left”, a court has heard.
Khayri McLean, 15, died at the entrance to North Huddersfield Trust School after being targeted by two balaclava-wearing youths who had been “lying in wait” for him last September, prosecutors say.
A 15-year-old boy has admitted murder, having stabbed Khayri in the chest, while a 17-year-old is accused of stabbing the victim in the leg.
The older boy has denied murder and is on trial because prosecutors say that, although he did not inflict the fatal blow, he acted with his co-accused and they “encouraged and supported each other to carry out the attack”.
At Leeds Crown Court, prosecutor George Hazel-Owram said a 15-year-old friend of Khayri who witnessed the deadly assault told officers “he thought this incident had happened because Khayri was in a gang and had left the gang”.
“He thought Khayri had joined the gang partway through Year 10,” Mr Hazel-Owram said.
“He had seen Khayri post about the gang on social media.”
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The friend said he had seen two people “dressed in black from head to toe” heading across an adjacent public field earlier that afternoon.
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A summary of the boy’s interview with police, read in court by Mr Hazel-Owram, said he had been with Khayri and other friends “all talking and having a laugh” as they left school for the day.
As they approached an alleyway, two people wearing balaclavas, sunglasses and gloves leapt at them, with one shouting “Yo, Khayri”, the witness said.
The attacker “came straight at Khayri”, the witness told police, adding that he had thought it was a joke – until he saw the knife.
The attacker who had shouted then jumped in the air “like some ninja”, swinging the knife towards Khayri’s shoulder, the witness said.
He told police that he could hear Khayri screaming as he sprinted away from the scene.
The trial continues.
