Sean Whyte
On the 29th of September, 2003, 17-year-old Sean Whyte died in Burnley General Hospital after being stabbed outside his home in Colne, Lancashire.
Sean’s aunt, Agnes Rennie suffered stab wounds to her shoulder and neck during the same incident and was also taken to Burnley General.
On the evening of the day he died, Sean was singing to his mother at a family birthday party. Just moments later he was dying in her arms. Mary Whyte said:
“My baby is gone and we have been given a life sentence. What have we got to look forward to in life knowing he is no longer with us?”
In court, Anthony Gee QC, prosecuting, said a guest called Hugh O’Neil had left the party with Michael Stuart. He continued:
“They met Wasim and they had an argument which seems to have been about £8 owed by Michael Stuart to Wasim, borrowed the day before. They had a fight and Mr Stuart ran off into number nine to tell the occupants what had happened.
Some came out and witnesses describe a group of 10 to 12 Asian males who had come out of 31 North Street.
An argument over a loan of £8 escalated into a fight and escalated still further into appalling violence.”
Anthony Gee went on to say Hasan Mumtaz had armed himself with a knife and pair of scissors. He said the scissors had been used to inflict three wounds on Agnes Rennie’s head, shoulder and upper arm which required 20 stitches.
He also said Wasim and Sean had been fighting separately from the group and Hasan had run up to Sean and stabbed him in the chest, creating a wound about 18cm deep which pierced his heart and other organs.
Mr Gee said plainclothes police officers attended the scene, had seen Hasan with a knife and followed him to his home. They arrested him after finding a pair of scissors pushed behind a chair. The bloodstained knife was later recovered in the garden of another home in North Street.
18-year-old Hasan Mumtaz and his brother Wasim admitted that they wer present when Sean was stabbed.
However, Hasan Mumtaz denied the charges of murder and wounding with intent at Preston Crown Court and, even though he was found guilty of the unlawful wounding of another person on the same night, the Preston jury found him not guilty of Sean’s murder.
He was convicted of violent disorder only.
Detective Inspector Tony Harling said:
“We won’t be reopening the case and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with Sean’s death.”
Sean’s family had moved to England from Scotland seeking a “fresh start.”
They have since returned to Scotland.
Sean’s body was taken to Scotland and he is buried there.
One day, when the English take their country back, we’ll be checking up on the ethnic composition of such juries as this.
You should remember this when you’re fixing to find the guilty, innocent.
Peter Pike, New Labour MP for Burnley, never mentioned his constituent, Sean Whyte, in the House of Commons. (For Pike’s PC credentials, go here)
Thanks to 1millionpoints.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/3154118.stm
A man has been charged with the murder of a teenager after a fight in a Lancashire town.
Hasan Mumtaz, 18, has also been charged with violent disorder following the incident in Colne that led to the death of 17-year-old Sean Whyte on Monday night.
His brother, 20-year-old Wasim, has been charged with a wounding offence and violent disorder in connection with the death.
The pair, both from North Street, Colne, were arrested after police discovered Mr Whyte collapsed in the road following reports of an incident at a house in North Street.
He was later taken to Burnley General Hospital, where he was confirmed dead on arrival.
The two men charged in connection with his death are expected to appear before magistrates in Burnley on Wednesday.
Stab victim and suspect’s DNA found on knife
A FORENSIC scientist told a court that a knife found in a back garden in Colne had DNA on it matching both a stab victim and the man accused of his murder.
Hasan Mumtaz, 18, of North Street, Colne, denies murdering Sean Whyte, wounding Sean’s aunt Agnes Rennie and violent disorder. His brother Wasim Mumtaz, 21, also of North Street, denies violent disorder.
Forensic scientist Andrew Davidson told the jury at Preston Crown Court he had examined a knife found in a back garden in North Street on September 30 as well as a pair of scissors and a sweatshirt taken from Hasan Mumtaz.
He said blood on the blade of the knife had matched Sean Whyte’s DNA profile with a billion to one chance it could be from someone else.
He added that he had found DNA on the handle from more than one person but that when Sean Whyte’s profile was removed the remaining components matched Hasan Mumtaz’s profile with a 4,000-1 chance of being from someone else.
Mr Davidson said that on the scissors he found DNA matching the profiles of Hasan Mumtaz, Agnes Rennie and Sean Whyte.
He told the jury he had examined blood spots on the back of the right sleeve of the hooded sweatshirt and found DNA matching the profiles of both Sean Whyte and Hasan Mumtaz.
Mr Davidson later added that “the pattern of blood is consistent with the wearer being present when Sean Whyte was injured.”