A man who claimed he acted in self-defence when he stabbed a 16-year-old boy in the car park of an Ipswich branch of McDonald’s has been cleared by a jury.
Giving evidence during his trial at Ipswich Crown Court, 18-year-old Rishawn Mohammed said that while he was at the Ravenswood branch of McDonald’s on June 13 he had been attacked by the 16-year-old boy and his 17-year-old friend.
He claimed the 17-year-old youth had produced a knife and, fearing for his life, he had pulled out a kitchen knife he had taken from his grandmother’s kitchen.
Mohammed told the court he had made a jabbing motion towards the 16-year-old boy and hadn’t realised he had stabbed him.
He said he carried a knife after being stabbed in June 2017 in the Ravenswood area of Ipswich and again earlier this year in the Chantry area of the town and feared he might be attacked again.
Mohammed, of Hurricane Place, Ipswich, denied wounding the 16-year-old with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm, violent disorder and having a knife.
He was cleared of the wounding and violent disorder charges but convicted of having a knife.
The 16-year-old victim of the stabbing, who is now 17 and can’t be identified because of his age, denied violent disorder but was found guilty.
A 17-year-old youth, who cannot be named because of his age, admitted violent disorder and having a knife at an earlier stage of the proceedings.
The case was adjourned until Thursday November 29 to discuss sentencing.
During the trial it was alleged that the 16-year-old victim and his 17-year-old friend were in the McDonald’s car park when Mohammed pulled out a large red handled kitchen knife with a 12cm blade and “plunged” it into his groin.
The injured teenager slumped to the ground in between two cars and his friend had produced a knife and chased after Mohammed but couldn’t catch him.
Following the attack the injured teenager, who was bleeding heavily from a cut to a major artery to his groin, underwent emergency surgery and made a good recovery.
The court heard that had it not been for prompt medical intervention he would “almost certainly” have died.
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