Court hears how aggression flared moments before a fatal stabbing in Birmingham

The friend of a teenager who was stabbed in the heart has told a court they had been "aggressive" to two masked boys who approached them as they sat on a bench in Birmingham.

Muhammad Hassam Ali, 17, who was known as Ali, died of his injuries in hospital hours after he and his friend were allegedly followed through the city centre by two males they did not know before he was stabbed in the chest as they sat in Victoria Square on January 20.

Two 15-year-old boys, who cannot be named because of their age, are on trial at Coventry Crown Court and both deny murder and possession of a bladed article.

Giving evidence on Wednesday, Ali's friend, who also cannot be named because of his age, admitted they had both been "aggressive" to the two males when they were approached by them and started questioning them because they did not know who they were or what they were talking about.

The jury of six men and six women were told that two youths, one of them wearing gloves and both with their hoods up and Covid-style blue masks on, approached Ali and his friend "out of nowhere" and started asking them if they knew who had "jumped a mate" of theirs a week before, and where they came from.

After a conversation lasting about four minutes, Ali allegedly said: "Bro, I don't know what you're talking about, you're pissing me off", which prompted one of the youths to pull out a large knife and stab him in the chest before they both fled.

Recorded police interviews with Ali's friend on the day the teenager was killed were played to the jury, in which the friend said he thought the youths were just trying to "scare" them when one of them produced a knife.

Michael Ivers KC, defending the youth accused of inflicting the fatal wound, asked Ali's friend on Wednesday if they had got "aggressive" with them to try and get them to leave them alone.

He said: "Sometimes, to avoid a fight you have got to look like you want a fight. I'm prepared to accept straight away that neither you or Ali would have ever done anything, but sometimes you have to big yourself up to get them to go away don't you?

"The words that were being said, I'm not saying anyone was screaming and shouting, but it wasn't like 'would you mind awfully popping off', it was more like 'f*** off, get out of here', wasn't it?"

The friend said that was correct, but said he could not remember if either he or Ali had hurled personal insults at the two youths before the knife was produced.

Prosecution barrister Mark Heywood KC said: "You said you spoke to these men and you said things to encourage them to go away and get out of your space.

"You said that included language like 'f*** off' and language like they were 'pissing you off'. How loudly were you saying those things?"

The friend replied that it was said in a "normal way" and they were talking to them in a "normal voice".

When asked if he had heard Ali using that type of language towards the youths, he said yes.

Mr Heywood asked: "Did you make any movements towards either of the two men that was intended to make them go away?"

The friend replied: "I stood up once to tell them to f*** off or go away but I can't remember fully."

He said he could not remember if Ali had made any movements towards the two youths.

On Tuesday, Ali's family in the public gallery sobbed as CCTV footage which captured the moment he was stabbed and him staggering down the steps in Victoria Square where he was helped by members of the public was shown to the jury.

Jurors were also shown CCTV of the moment Ali and his friend and the two youths walked past each other in Grand Central Shopping Centre, after which the boys alleged to be the defendants seem to pause and speak to each other before turning around and following them as the pair made their way through New Street towards Victoria Square.

A post-mortem examination found that Ali had died of a single stab wound to the right-hand side of his chest that was 6cm deep and 4.3cm wide and had penetrated his lung and his heart.

The trial continues.