Three accidentally cleared for stabbing due to jury forewoman's 'mistake'
Three men were accidentally cleared of killing a man outside Waterloo Station, after an Old Bailey jury forewoman made a "mistake".
On Wednesday, the family of 32-year-old Adrian Keise left court tearful and shaken after brothers Paul and Matthew Yusuff and their friend Moussa Traore were acquitted over his death. The jury of 11 men and women had deliberated for 10 hours and 46 minutes when the court assembled for what had been expected to be a majority direction.
The jury forewoman was twice asked if verdicts had been reached on which they all agreed before finding the defendants, from south London, not guilty. Soon after the jury was discharged, Judge Charles Gratwicke, who had come out of retirement to hear the case, reassembled the court after receiving a jury note indicating a mistake had been made.
The scene of the stabbing in Frazier Street, London (LNP)Despite opposition from defence barristers, the judge recalled the jury and questioned the forewoman about what happened. The judge asked if she had made a "mistake" when she said the jury had unanimous verdicts. The woman replied: "Yes."
The judge then told jurors he would accept a verdict on which at least 10 agreed and told them to resume deliberations. On Thursday, the jury was discharged for a second time after deliberating for a total of 12 hours and 44 minutes.
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Asked if the jury had reached any verdicts on which at least 10 agreed, the forewoman initially said "no". She quickly corrected herself and found Paul Yusuff not guilty of possessing a blade or point.
The jury was unable to agree on verdicts in relation to two other charges. Paul Yusuff, 21, and Matthew Yusuff, 23, were charged with murder.
They were also charged with the lesser alternative of manslaughter along with the third defendant Traore, 24. Having discharged the jury, Judge Gratwicke excused them from service for 10 years.
The jury had been reduced from 12 to 11 after one of them became ill and died before Christmas. After the jury left court, defence barrister Kerim Fuad KC said he remained "extremely troubled" by what had happened.
He had expressed concern that the defendants, who are all in custody, were being detained "illegally" in light of Wednesday's verdict. The prosecution was given seven days to consider whether or not to seek a retrial.
Previously, the trial had heard how Mr Keise was chased and surrounded by the three men in the early hours of October 29, 2022. Matthew Yusuff wielded a bottle and Paul Yusuff stabbed Mr Keise in the back three times with a knife, it was alleged.
The victim was rushed to hospital where he later died from his injuries. Earlier that evening Mr Keise had spent the evening drinking with friends at the Thirsty Bear pub in nearby Stamford Street.
They went on to the area of the Cubana Bar in Lower Marsh, near Waterloo Station shortly after 2am where their paths crossed with the defendants' group. Prosecutor William Davis had said: "Within just a few minutes, an innocuous, minor and quite insignificant disagreement grew to an altercation and then escalated into a period of uncontrolled violence quite out of any proportion to the initiating event - all taking place in the streets of central London."
Jurors had viewed CCTV footage in which the three defendants had allegedly surrounded the victim. The defendants had denied all the charges against them.
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