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Prince Walker-Ayeni was murdered in Moss Side just days before he turned 18.
Last month, the two teenage boys who killed him were handed the equivalent of life sentences for juvenile offenders. But until now, the pair have remained anonymous in press coverage of their cases due to their age
They can now both be named following a successful legal challenge brought by the Manchester Evening News. Trial judge Mrs Justice Ellenbogen agreed with our submission that there was strong public interest in naming the two killers after they were sentenced – as well as the mother of one of the boys who sat next to her son in the dock.
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Alkhader Qasem, 17, and Ishaaq Mia, 16, denied murder, claiming they acted in self-defence – but they were both convicted of murdering the 17-year-old on April 4 last year, Meanwhile, Mia’s mother Saima Habib, 44, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice in connection with the killing by helping her son to hide evidence in the form a mobile SIM card.
The judge said in her ruling: “The public will wish to know the identities of those who commit such serious offences, together with the context within which they have been committed, in seeking to understand how it is that children of the relevant age can do so.
“I am satisfied that knife crime and perverting the course of public justice in general, and the circumstances of this particular case, are matters of substantial public interest.”
Alkhader Qasem (left) stabbed Prince Walker-Ayeni (right) -Credit:GMP
Prince was stabbed three times, twice in his leg and once in his chest, as he was chased through the streets. Qasem stabbed Prince, as Mia chased their victim. The pair then fled.
Our court reporter Andrew Bardsley, who covered the case, told the Mancunian Way that reporting restrictions that prevent the media from naming defendants who are under 18 are standard practice.But he said: “When young people are convicted of such serious crimes, we argued that it was in the public interest for their identities to be revealed.
“As the judge herself said, we believe that the revealing of their identities will allow for full reporting of the case, to show how it is that two young people could be convicted of such a serious offence. It may help to deter others from committing crime, and it is likely to allow for more wider public discussion of such a serious issue as knife crime is to the public.”
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Manchester headlines
MP pleads guilty: Wythenshawe-born MP Mike Amesbury has admitted to punching a constituent in Cheshire last October. Labour suspended the Runcorn and Helsby MP after a video of the incident emerged and he has now resigned from the party.
Lido plans: Manchester will get its first lido in decades if plans to transform a ‘derelict’ corner with just 100 residents into a ‘green new town’ are approved. Plans to start redevelopment work of Holt Town are set to be approved next week. Read more here.
Council cuts: Bosses at Manchester Council have denied they want to impose a ‘cuts budget’ they eye £18m of ‘efficiency savings’. It comes as the local authority ‘overspends’ £20m on adult and children’s social care and homelessness this year. Read more here.
Worth a read
The government has announced plans to help Oldham council hold a new locally-led public inquiry into grooming gangs after Elon Musk waded in on a furious row about child sexual exploitation. But this is not the first time the issue has been looked at in Greater Manchester.
You can read all about the various police investigations, council reviews and independent inquiries on the issue of grooming gangs and the gruesome details they uncovered here.