A killer is facing prison for stabbing a man to death in his bedroom but he and two others were cleared of murder.
Fise Ames Abdou died after being knifed ten times in the legs at the home he was staying at in South Shields. Shaun Riches, 24, of Wycliffe Avenue, Kenton, Newcastle, was found guilty of manslaughter but cleared of murder, along with Scott Mitchell, 25, of no fixed address and Michael Raine, 35, of Grace House, Percy Main, North Shields. Mitchell and Raine were also cleared of manslaughter.
One of the stab wounds to Fise's leg severed a vein and he bled to death despite efforts to save him, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
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Francis Fitzgibbon QC, prosecuting, said during the trial: “In the early hours of March 5 this year a man called Fise Ames Abdou was killed in his bedroom at an address on Marshall Wallis Road, in South Shields. He was stabbed at least ten times in both legs. Despite the efforts of paramedics, he bled to death."
Fise was staying with childhood friend, Brandon Cairns, at the time. Mr Fitzgibbon said: “Sadly to say they were both drug addicts and sadder to say, neither was a stranger to committing crime to feed their drug habits. The drugs that Fise used included crack cocaine. He would rob others of their drugs or money, a practice known as taxing."
Exactly what happened on the night Fise died is unclear but neither paramedics nor A&E doctors at South Tyneside District Hospital could save Fise’s life as he had lost too much blood. He was pronounced dead at 4.45am.
Mr Fitzgibbon said a pathologist found he had suffered 10 stab wounds, three of which were in pairs. He added: “The worst one cut a major vein just behind, just below his right knee. It went in the front of the leg and cut the vein in half.
“It was fatal on its own and the other injuries, although less serious, would have contributed to the loss of blood from which death resulted. The bedroom was heavily bloodstained.”
During the trial all three defendants said they were present. Riches said he stabbed Fise in self-defence and claimed Fise had a knife, Mitchell said he punched him because he came at him with a knife and Raine said he had nothing to do with any violence.
Riches will be sentenced for manslaughter on October 21 at Newcastle Crown Court.
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