Knifeman guilty of murder after stabbing university graduate who acted as peacemaker during fight

A knifeman who stabbed a university graduate after he tried to act as a peacemaker in a fight has been found guilty of murder. Badri Issa, 22, was stabbed to death in the street by Raami Mohamed.

Mr Issa, who hoped to become a mechanical engineer, had been heading to the gym with his pal Omar Jeylaani when Mohamed gestured to his friend to pull over in Moss Side. Manchester Crown Court heard Mohamed and Jeylaani had previously been embroiled in a dispute over a car.

After stopping their cars, the pair became involved in a stand-off and Mr Issa got in between them and told them to ‘chill’. But as tensions rose, Mohamed produced a knife and stabbed Mr Issa to the chest.

READ MORE: Murder accused teen who admits stabbing Kennie Carter denies 'making up self-defence story'

Mohamed, 21, was found guilty of murder following a trial. A second man, Kevell Blake, 20, was acquitted of murder, but found guilty of manslaughter.

Prosecutors said he ‘assisted and encouraged’ Mohamed in the killing. Both men will be sentenced next month. In a tribute released following his death, Mr Issa’s family said: “Badri was well loved at home and in the community. He was respectful and lovely and always put others first.

“Badri had just graduated university and was looking forward to starting a career in mechanical engineering. He was kind and friendly and always smiling. He will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him.”

The court heard that there had been a ‘background of hostility’ between Mr Jeylaani and Mohamed following a dispute over a Volkswagen Polo.

An arrangement had been made for Mohamed to rent the car from a firm said to be linked to Mr Jeylaani. But Mohamed didn’t pay the agreed sum and then said he was ‘going to keep the car’, the trial heard.

Mr Jeylaani discovered the car parked on a street in Cheetham Hill about two weeks before the murder, and with the help of three associates they were able to ‘repossess’ the vehicle after some ‘brief violence’. Then on the evening of October 25 last year Mohamed and Mr Jeylaani were both out driving and met, in a chance encounter.

Mohamed gestured towards Mr Jeylaani to pull over, as he and Mr Issa headed to an exercise class. Both cars turned onto Moss Lane East and stopped in a lay-by.

Mohamed got out of his car, a white Seat Ibiza, and approached Mr Jeylaani shouting ‘what have you done?’ As a confrontation developed between them Mr Issa got between them and told them to ‘chill’.

Mr Issa and Mohamed then became involved in a scuffle, while Mr Jeylaani and Blake confronted each other. Blake threw a punch and hit Mr Jeylaani.

Mr Jeylaani said he didn’t see his friend being stabbed but heard him shout and saw him fall, then noticing his shirt was stained red with blood. Mohamed, of Fairy Lane, Cheetham Hill, and Mr Blake, of Bromshill Drive, Cheetham Hill, both denied murder. Mohamed alleged that the knife had been produced by Mr Issa, and claimed that he had disarmed him and stabbed him in self-defence.

Blake claimed he didn’t know that Mohamed had a knife, and said he punched Mr Jeylaani in self-defence.