An 18 year old from Smethwick has been acquitted of murder following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

The defendant, represented by Gurdeep Garcha KC leading Mohammed Naser – instructed by Sadia Mahmood of M & N Solicitors, Birmingham – was charged alongside two other defendants with murder and possession of a bladed article.

The deceased, had been stabbed to death in the Cross Keys Banqueting Hall, in Ladywood, Birmingham in February 2022.

The prosecution case was that the defendants were gang members who harboured a grudge against the deceased. The ongoing feud had seen the deceased being shot at whilst sat in his car a month before he was killed.  When they happened to come across him in the nightclub, the altercation quickly escalated into violence. All three members of the gang were said to be armed with knives and were said to have jointly attacked the deceased.

The defendant denied that he was carrying any ​weapon and asserted that he was not responsible for any violence. He denied being party to a joint enterprise in any violence and maintained that he was the victim of an assault by the deceased.