202401911 B3 - [2025] EWCA Crim 1317

Fecha: 16-Oct-2025

The Prosecution case

The Prosecution case

The prosecution case was that the appellant and his co-accused were jointly responsible for attacking and stabbing both C1 and C2.

D1 initially got into a verbal confrontation with C1. This turned into a physical fight, during which D1 shouted in Arabic, something like “bring the knife and kill them”.

The appellant and the other four co-accused responded to the shout and ran down the towpath towards the lock gate where the other men were fighting. C2 tried to stop the men from getting involved but he was attacked and stabbed. He was unsure who had stabbed him but he described seeing “the fat guy” (said to be D2) and “the kid” (said to be the appellant) with knives. Everyone was fighting. C2 saw C1 being thrown into the water and decided that that was the only way to escape. He threw himself into the canal and swam across it. Youssef Alsrhan ran across the lock gate to get to the other side and join C1 and C2, while Mr Ashrif stayed on the other side watching in shock.

When C2 got out on the other side, he took his top off to see how badly he was injured. He then noticed that C1 had collapsed and tried to assist him. The appellant and D3 left the scene first, running back up the towpath. The other co-accused were still shouting from the other side of the canal. They accused Mr Ashrif of stealing D1’s mobile phone and frisked him. D2 threw an object across the canal towards the Alsrhan brothers and C2. As the police and paramedics arrived, the remaining co-accused left the scene together.

D4 was arrested nearby. D1, D2 and D5 were arrested on 23^rd August 2023 – D1 at his girlfriend’s home in Crewe and D2 on a flight about to leave for Iraq. D5 was contacted by phone and waited for the police to arrive at his location. The appellant and D3 were arrested at their homes three months later in November 2023.

10.

To prove the case, the Prosecution relied on:

(1)

Evidence of C2, Youssef Alsrhan and Abubaker Ashrif;

(2)

Evidence of two independent eye witnesses, Mr Ellis, who watched the incident from his hotel window and Ms Donaldson, who watched the incident from a bridge across the canal;

(3)

A schedule of events;

(4)

CCTV evidence, showing the movements of all those involved, and mobile phone footage of the end of the incident at the canal;

(5)

Telephone evidence, showing the movements of the co-accused and the communication between them, before and after the incident;

(6)

Medical evidence as to the injuries sustained by Ahmed Alsrhan and C2;

(7)

Agreed facts, including items, DNA and blood found at the scene and identification by eye witnesses of certain co-accused in identification parades. C2 made a formal identification of the appellant as the person in possession of the chrome flick knife;

(8)

Police interviews with each of the co-accused and inferences to be drawn from their silence, save for D3 who gave a full account to the police.