Amen Teklay was found seriously injured on Clarendon Street, Glasgow, and was pronounced dead at the scene, with a murder trial now taking place at the High Court in Glasgow
A teenager accused of killing 15-year-old Amen Teklay in a sword attack “did not lay a finger” on him, a murder trial was told.
Amen was found seriously injured on Clarendon Street in Maryhill, Glasgow, on the evening of March 5 last year but, despite the efforts of paramedics, died at the scene. Two teenagers aged 16 and 17 are now accused of murdering the 15-year-old in a sword attack as a trial remains ongoing.
According to the murder charge, the two teenagers allegedly assaulted Amen with their face masked while brandishing a frying pan and a sword or similar instrument at him on Glenfarg Street and Clarendon Street.
The pair are then alleged to have chased Amen and struck him on the body with the sword, leaving him with such severe injuries he died. The two boys, who cannot be named due to their age, deny the charge, with the 16-year-old lodging a special self-defence defence.
Iain McSporran KC addressed the jury for about an hour today on behalf of the 17-year-old. He said his client has assisted police with their investigation and spoke at length to detectives in the days that followed Amen’s death.
Urging the jurors to acquit his client, he said: “As far as he was concerned, he had done nothing wrong.” The lawyer said prosecutors had overreached by charging his client, and that the 17-year-old “was not involved in any feud or drug dealing or gang”.
He said his client had enough knowledge to be “wary” of Amen but wished him no harm, saying: “He did not lay a finger on Amen Teklay and the prosecution do not say otherwise.”
Mr McSporran also cited a lack of evidence on which his client could be convicted on the basis of a common criminal enterprise with the first accused – the 16-year-old. According to the lawyer, Amen had “gone out of his way” to find the first accused on the day of the incident.
The victim was allegedly armed with a weapon described as a “cutlass” or a “pirate sword”. The 17-year-old had not participated in the violence that followed, Mr McSporran said.
He told jurors: “I have no doubt that (Amen’s) family loves him and misses him.” He added: “By your verdict you cannot restore Amen Teklay to his family… Sympathy plays no part in the verdict process.”
The trial has been taking place before Lord Colbeck at the High Court in Glasgow.