Teenager guilty of St Paul's murder
A Bristol teenager faces life imprisonment after being found guilty of murdering a man in a St Paul’s pub.
April Bright, 18, of Wilder Street, St Paul’s, stabbed 35-year- old Mohamoud Hassan in the neck at The Criterion pub following last year’s St Paul’s Carnival.
She had already admitted manslaughter – but a jury at Bristol Crown Court took just over two hours to convict her of a murder charge on Tuesday.
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Bright hunched over and sobbed behind the bulletproof glass in Court Two as the verdict was returned, while members of her family and friends cried in the public gallery.
Having been told Bright had been diagnosed with the condition Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) while in custody but was thought not to suffer from mental illness, trial judge Mr Justice Roderick Evans adjourned sentence until Wednesday to enable him to study doctors’ reports.
The court heard Bright, who was 17 when she committed the murder, had previous convictions for dishonesty, an assault on police, drugs possession and using racially threatening, insulting words or behaviour.
It was claimed during the two-week trial that Bright stabbed Mr Hassan because he was part of a group making “a lecherous nuisance of themselves”.
Richard Smith, QC, prosecuting, told the jury that The Criterion had been packed with carnival-goers partying the night away.
Mr Smith said Mr Hassan, also known as “Tiger” or “Warrior”, had been partying and was in high spirits.
His post-mortem examination later revealed he was twice the legal alcohol limit for driving.
Mr Smith said Bright, who had spent the evening with her boyfriend, friends and family, had also been drinking and had been described as moody, excitable and aggressive.
He said: “She had come to carnival armed with a knife in her tracksuit trousers.
“She had been seen in possession of that weapon.”
Mr Smith said, shortly before the murder, Bright had confronted Mr Hassan in a St Paul’s cafe, warning him not to mess with her and telling him: “You don’t know my people. You don’t know who I am.”
The jury was told a group of Somalian men were touching and talking to women and were perceived as a nuisance.
He said that, when Bright and Hassan crossed paths in The Criterion, Bright produced her blade and stabbed him in the neck.
He told the court: “Mr Hassan emerged from the alleyway, through the bar of the pub, clutching his neck and bleeding profusely.
“He was bleeding from a single stab wound inflicted by the defendant. He was aided by a lady and collapsed on the front step of the pub.”
The court heard that, after pushing her away to where Hassan lay bleeding to death, witnesses heard April Bright say: “Let him die.”
When dabbing tissue to a cut finger in the women’s toilet, she is also claimed to have said: “He assaulted me, he touched me up, f***ing Somalian.”
After the case, friends of Mr Hassan said he was known as Tiger because he was a brave man, who would be first to offer help if anyone needed it.
They said, though he may have been partying that night, he was shy of women and it would not be in his character to touch them inappropriately.
Family friend Prince Abdul Aziz, 39, a community organiser from Easton, said: “His mother wasn’t expecting him to die in England. She was fearing he may die in Somalia but she didn’t think he would be killed in England because he came here to find peace.”
A statement from Mr Hassan’s family said: “The murder of Mr Hassan, to die in such circumstances, was cruel and tragic, not only for his family but for the community of Easton and St Paul’s.
“We are devastated to lose one who was as funny and loving as he was thoughtful.
“Mr Hassan was a fantastic guy who was caring and always interested and enthusiastic and the first to offer help to others.
“He loved to be outside, enjoying the world around him, and he’ll be sorely missed by everyone who knew him.
“While being pleased his killer has been found guilty, this is not a day of celebration.
“We, as a family, are sentenced to a lifetime of sadness for the loss of Mr Hassan.”
“Nothing can ever fill the hole that has been left in our lives.
“We hope that Mr Hassan’s death and the investigation and prosecution that followed will deter others who may wish to harm or kill innocent people.”
The statement added that the family knew Mr Hassan had many friends but they were amazed by the amount of supportive messages they received.
They thanked the police for their help and support involved in the inquiry, especially DC Rob Callaway, who acted as the family liaison officer from the start.
Comments
by shaun1964
Thursday, May 03 2012, 4:54PM
“dont you know who iam she retorts,we do now, a knife weilding murderer”
by Natalie Bishop, Bournemouth
Tuesday, August 10 2010, 9:24PM
“I got to know April for sadly only a short time and when she is released i hope she stays in touch with me, she is a nice girl with a big bubbly personality it saddens me to know she'll be wasting a big part of her young life inside (before anyone finds the need to slate my comment everyone is entitled to their OWN comment) i dont believe anyone has the right to take another persons life! I just know that this girl helped me through a time i needed support and i will always be there to offer my love an support.... my thoughts go to her family and i hope that time passes quickly for them! You will all pull through this stay strong and stay together much love sent to you all x Scatty x”
by GANGST, BRISTOL
Tuesday, April 06 2010, 6:23PM
“FREE APRIL BRIGHT
i grew up with april and STILL keep in contact with her...no matter what people have to say on here she was and still is a good person!
we miss u prilla!! x b home soon”
by hi, bristol
Thursday, December 04 2008, 1:01PM
“instead of writing about what has already happened, get out there and DO something for the youth. It is clear that they need education,support and positive role models.
By every one of you sitting there expressing more NEGATIVE attitudes and writing about this matter, another young person could be arming themself with a knife because nothing is being done, about these matters what is said to be the RIGHT way in society.
Sending April to prison is only going to help april reflect on her actions (im not sayin she dosen't deserve to be there, but what was done for her in the first place.) It will do nothing positive for all of the other young people that are living in st pauls do not forget that april is doing her time and there are still hundreds of other young people in bristol that need help and prevention from this happening again. Do something positive. What April did, Yes was bad but why keep on with all the negativity towards the type of people that are committing crimes they do it for reason and clearly need help. if evryone of you who had an opinon did something positive you might see a change in the way that things are at the moment. Every single person knows actions have consequences but how do you prevent actions to aviod consequences in the first place?”
by Jill McNally, Bristol
Thursday, December 04 2008, 12:41PM
“I remember this girl, April Bright, when she was only 9 or 10 years old at a primary school where I taught 8 years ago. I find it so hard to believe that she has grown up like this. I think there must have been many negative influences at work in her life.”
by K, St Pauls
Thursday, December 04 2008, 11:40AM
“To "some one living in the real world" (which is apparently Montpelier) I suggest you go back to school and learn to write proper sentences before entering into an adult discussion.
There is no excuse for carrying a weapon of any kind, in any area, at any time. This "poor girl" sounds like a nasty piece of work and people like her should be removed from the streets for the safety of everyone around her. Many kids who had terrible upbringings did not grow up to stab other people in the neck. If he was being such a pest and she really insisted on using aggression to make her point, would a slap in the face not have been enough?
By the way, you don't need to walk "through" Portland square to get to your house, even if you next to it.
The fact is, she committed murder, and she'll be out and about when she is even younger than the man she killed. I'd advise everyone not to waste time feeling sorry for her- she knew what she was doing when she put the knife in her pocket.”
by justin, Bristol
Wednesday, December 03 2008, 5:06PM
“I personally feel sorry for this young girl. This poor girl was being brought up in a war zone and protected herself and adapted to what was going on.”
by some one living in the real world, montpelier
Wednesday, December 03 2008, 1:19PM
“Some of the people postings on here need to wake up and get in the real world. Most Young people to day carry knives to protect them selves not just in st Paul's and easton but all ova henbury southmead bedminster knowle etc and areas all ova the country. bcoz of the media hype people with out a clue suddenly think we have a knife problem in this country get real we have always had a knife problem its just most of u only no about it bcos u read it in paper or saw it in the news bcoz of the media hype. wen i was growing up young people 10yrs ago were carrying knifes and there was stabbings this is nothing new. also alot of people posting on here clearly av never been to st Paul's wilder st where this girl was from is at the bottom of portland sq which at all times of the day u will find prostitutes drug addicts (needles jus lying around) alcoholics there are alot of robberies and even murders and there have been alot of rapes in that sq ova the yrs. 1 that springs to my mind was reported in bep earlier this yr wen a prositiute was hit ova the head with a hammer and raped.jus 5min walk up the rd you have a hostel where sex offenders jus released frm prison are housed. the hostels in ? are where sydney cook (the pedo) was housed and was al found to ova look a nursery.is also 5min walk frm where the black and white cafe use to be which was and i think still is the most raided place in uk FACT.i dnt think hardley any of the men posting on ere wud like to walk through that sq at night let alone women. i bet the women that posted earlier wont walk through there at night.this girl has to walk through there 2 get hme so try to imagine how a 17 girl feels and by pic she looks very small.now i dnt agree with carryin knives but i understand y people feel the need to. a sq like this wud never ever be allowed in Glastonbury so y is a blind eye turned to it in st Paul's? as to why was a 17 yr old in a pub at that time of night it was carnival there was thousands of teenagers out.and if it wasn't carnival wot else av the young people of st Paul's and easton and other similar areas got to do where r the youth clubs, the parks, etc?who wants to hang around street corners in the cold i didn't but was nothing else to do.we all as society av to take a bit of the responsibility for these things and not tolerated places like portland sq (to name one there are many more) anywhere. and set up safe places for young people to go to enjoy them selves in a safe place youth clubs football coaching and boxin esp etc.”
by Christina, St Pauls
Wednesday, December 03 2008, 1:05PM
“AL .. My apologises for the mis-understanding. Thanks for clarifying, i must admit i agree with you that proper parenting is the place to start and i also see the way violence and "threats" are used as discipline towards children and seemingly acceptable. Respect for other begins with respect for yourself and this is where parents come in (among other things too) . There is no easy answer because all we can do, as parents, is instill values in our children that will carry them into adult life and hope that they a) keep those values b) are ABLE to keep them c) lead by example and pass them on.
Parenting terrifies me, i don't know the answers (blimey, half the time i don't know the blooming question either) but i do have core values that i am (hopefully) instilling into my kids and will not stop trying.”
by Al, ST Phillips
Wednesday, December 03 2008, 12:42PM
“Tina, I think you have misunderstood by direction.
What I was, maybe not that well, trying to say, is that a lot, not all, of our social problems with youth,Could be solved if parents, single or otherwise were actually able to parent properly. I do not for a minute think that there would be NO problems, but certainly a lot less. I see how kids are spoken to, slapped around the head, talked to as if they are rubbish on a regular basis. Just shop in bedminster on a Saturday morning, and see how many times your hear comments like '*** 'ere or I'll 'it 'e" and kids continually sworn at, or around. What do you expect these kids to grown into when the parents have no parenting skills. No not all, but a hugh section. Parenting is the answer to a lot of our problems, or there would not be 17yr old girls out at 1am!”