The Boy With A Pound In His Pocket (Paperback). This item is unavailable.The Boy With A Pound In His Pocket (Paperback)

On March 2nd, 2019, Yousef Makki, a scholarship pupil at Manchester Grammar school, was stabbed in the heart by one of his friends on a quiet, leafy street in the wealthy Manchester suburb of Hale Barns. 

The two boys who were with him as the 17-year-old lay dying from a 12cm deep knife wound were brought up in the affluent surrounding areas and like Yousef had attended expensive public schools. But unlike them, Yousef was not from a wealthy family. He grew up seven miles and a world away on a council estate in Burnage and won a life changing bursary to a prestigious grammar school. 

. Just four months after Yousef was killed, a jury found his friend not guilty of murder or manslaughter. The outcome has been widely questioned, raising issues of class, wealth, and privilege in the justice system. 

Yousef died from a single stab wound to the chest. When his sister, Jade, collected his blood-stained clothes and personal possessions, he had a single pound coin in his pocket.

This is Jade’s personal story of her brother and how the fight for justice has transformed her life.

Jade Akoum: Shy and introverted, Jade never expected to be the face of a nationwide knife crime campaign looking down the lenses of the national and international press. A full-time housewife and a busy stay at home mother of four, she never craved attention nor sought the spotlight, preferring instead to dedicate her life to caring for her family. Then her life was turned upside down when her younger brother, Yousef was stabbed to death. She supported her mother, Debbie Makki, who spearheaded a campaign for justice for her son. Following Debbie’s death in May 2020, Jade found herself alone in the glare of the world’s media. 

Jade has written this book with the Sunday Times bestselling authors Ann and Joe Cusack. Their previous titles include ‘The Convent’ and ‘Silent Sisters’ also published by Mirror Books.