Teenager killed youth mentor hours after getting suspended sentence, court told

A teenager accused of murdering a youth mentor received a suspended prison sentence for possession of a knife just two hours earlier, a court heard.

Moshood Giwa, 19, alongside 18-year-old Hamed Hussein, allegedly killed Jordan Moazami in a street fight on April 24.

Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court were told the brawl had broken out in Tennal Road in Harborne, Birmingham, because of an argument over drugs between Giwa and 18-year-old Mr Moazami.

The court heard Giwa had been arrested on April 23 in Leicester after being found in possession of a knife and that he had admitted the offence at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court the following day.

The prosecution said he left the court building at 5.15pm after receiving a suspended sentence, and ended up being involved in the violence at about 7pm.

Jurors were told Hussein was the man who eventually fatally stabbed Mr Moazami, who suffered a large wound to his hand, a wound to his right shoulder and one underneath his ear.

Opening the case against them on Monday, prosecutor Stephen Linehan QC said: “Just over five months ago now on the evening of April 24, that young man Jordan Moazami was stabbed to death in a residential street in Harborne in our city.

“He died, like so many before him and since, because someone was carrying a lethal weapon, a knife, with the intention of using it should the situation arise.

“The name of the man carrying that knife and who used it to kill Jordan Moazami is Hamed Hussein.

“When Hamed Hussein killed Jordan Moazami, he was not acting alone, he was taking part in violence along with the defendant Moshood Giwa.

“The hand that killed Jordan Moazami was the hand of Hamed Hussein, but Moshood Giwa was joining in with the violence that led to Jordan Moazami’s death.

“That violence had broken out because of a quarrel between Moshood Giwa and Jordan Moazami.

“In this case, we will submit to you that you will conclude that the quarrel between these two men came out of dealing in drugs.”

Speaking of the events of the previous day, Mr Linehan said: “On (April 23) Moshood Giwa was not in Birmingham. He was in Leicester.

“He was arrested because he was found in possession of a knife and was taken into custody in Leicester and charged with possession of a bladed article.

“On April 24, he appeared in magistrates’ court in the morning. He pleaded guilty to possession of a knife but his sentence was suspended.

“He left the building at 5.15pm.”

Mr Linehan said Giwa had told Hussein that when he was arrested, officers did not find “drugs concealed in his bottom” and he was in a “very excitable state” after being spared prison.

Following his death, Jordan’s family paid tribute to their “beautiful baby boy”, and bosses at community football club Continental Star FC, where he had been a youth mentor, described him as a valued “role model”.

Hussein, of no fixed address, and Giwa, of Dimsdale Road, Birmingham, deny murder.

The trial continues.