Teen found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter of Azzam Raguragui

Updated 10 hours ago

A TEENAGER HAS been found not guilty of murder, but guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the murder of a fellow teenager during a riot in a Dublin park.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be identified as a minor, pleaded guilty to manslaughter at the beginning of the trial, but his statement was rejected by the Director of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The victim, Azzam Raguragui (18), died after suffering five stab wounds during a riot at Finsbury Park, Dundrum, Dublin 14 on May 10, 2019.

The boy’s defense argued that he believed he was acting in self-defense during a “terrifying fight” after having seen his friend hit, knock and kick repeatedly. The jury was told that if the boy honestly believed he was acting in self-defense but used more force than was reasonably necessary, he should be found guilty of the lesser charge.

The jury concluded by a majority of ten to two, after more than 13 hours of deliberations, that the defendant was not guilty of murder, but of involuntary manslaughter.

Azzam Raguragui’s mother came out of court and repeatedly shouted, “It is not fair,” after the verdict was read. She was comforted by members of her family.

The defendant wept as his family members hugged him before being taken to the Oberstown Detention Center, where he will remain until a sentencing hearing on October 12. Judge Paul McDermott thanked the jury for their service and invited the family of the deceased to make a statement to the court at the sentencing hearing.

Evidence in court

It was alleged that someone from the defendant’s group had stolen a bicycle and some of the defendant’s friends said that Azzam threatened one of them.

The defendant’s friends later met at a home in what prosecutor James Dwyer SC said was preparation for the subsequent confrontation.

In a statement to Gardaí, one of the boys present at the house said that the accused had the knife at the time. He told gardaí that the boy showed the knife and asked him to take care of it and return it to him later.

The same boy told Gardaí that when they entered Finsbury Park and saw members of the other group, the defendant asked that the knife be returned to him. In his evidence in court, the witness changed his story, saying that the defendant knew nothing about the knife until they entered Finsbury Park.

He said the defendant took the knife from him so they wouldn’t get in trouble.
The trial heard members of both groups caught up in the uproar that led to the death of Azzam Raguragui.

There was general agreement that the two groups met in Finsbury Park before 8pm and there was a discussion that went on for ten to 15 minutes without incident.

There was talk of the stolen bicycle but there was no violence, aggression or threats. When another member of the group of defendants arrived, who was the subject of Azzam’s alleged earlier threat, the atmosphere changed.

Each side had a different story about what happened next. Azzam’s friends insisted the violence broke out after the newcomer struck Azzam on the forehead. The defendant’s defense denied this and pointed to a pathologist’s report showing no signs of blunt trauma to Azzam’s forehead.

The defendant, in a statement to Gardaí, said that Azzam “started it all” and was the “ringleader,” while the defendant’s friends said the fight broke out after a member of Azzam’s group beat one of them and killed him. kick when he fell. down.
Azzam’s friends said that during the fight they saw Azzam run uphill and fall to the ground. At about that time they heard a “knife” cry and said they saw the defendant run after the deceased and stab him while he was lying on the ground.

Defense attorney Michael Bowman SC questioned the credibility of these accounts, suggesting that Azzam’s friends made up this part of the story in an attempt to obtain justice for their deceased friend.

Bowman said the pathologist had agreed that the injuries suffered by Azzam could have been caused while he was standing and noted that three independent witnesses walking through the park did not see anyone stabbed on the ground.