Journalist Amber Haque returns to her hometown of Manchester and finds a community still reckoning with the death of Yousef Makki, a 17-year-old scholarship boy at a private school, who was killed in one of the city’s wealthiest suburbs in 2019.
With Yousef’s killing and a subsequent murder trial still the talk of the town, Amber tries to understand the circumstances surrounding his death.
She digs deeper into what happened after Yousef’s death by revisiting the police investigation, as well as the rumours that were swirling around the community at the time.
Meanwhile, with an alarming number of knife crime incidents happening around her, Amber expands the investigation in an attempt to understand what’s going on across her city.
She uncovers a growing trend of middle-class kids carrying knives and discovers that many believe Yousef’s tragic death was not a “one-off” in Millionaire’s Row.
After hearing about a stabbing on the other side of town, Amber arrives at the scene and discovers another 17-year-old has been stabbed to death.
At the trial of the four young men charged with killing Mohamoud Mohamed, unexpected revelations in the courtroom push her to explore a potential link between Manchester’s dark past and what’s happening on the streets today.
As one of the teenagers at the centre of the trial into the killing of Yousef Makki returns to court, a confidential report gives Amber shocking new insight into the weeks leading up to Yousef’s death.
Suggestions of a potential missed opportunity for a police intervention lead Amber to question if there is bias in the justice system.
Meanwhile on the other side of town, a community is challenging three joint enterprise convictions which many say are unjust.
In this investigation spanning two years, Amber explores the uncomfortable questions raised through the killing of Yousef Makki, in a city where the knife crime epidemic is now reaching Manchester’s most affluent neighbourhoods.
Amber said: “Reporting on this story has been a really personal journey, full of twists and turns. I never expected to meet middle-class kids carrying knives and to hear that many believe Yousef’s tragic stabbing was not a “one-off” in the wealthy suburbs I grew up in. What happened to Yousef Makki in Hale Barns started a conversation that we needed to have in my hometown. About class, race, justice and what happens when you reverse the stereotypes of knives and gang culture. I’ve seen first-hand reporting on this series, that what you wear, how you talk, what music you listen to – is seen as “silly fantasy” in one part of town, but evidence of criminality in another.”
The series broadcasts on BBC Three Sunday 9th & 16th October and the full box-set is available now on BBC iPlayer.
