'Help me. I'm dying. Please,' Sheffield dad cried out after being fatally stabbed in the heart, court told

Help me. I'm dying. Please,' a Sheffield dad cried out as he lay bleeding in the street after being fatally stabbed in the heart outside a house party, a court heard.
Sami Al-Saroori was fatally stabbed outside a property in Wensley Gardens on September 9 last yearSami Al-Saroori was fatally stabbed outside a property in Wensley Gardens on September 9 last year
Sami Al-Saroori was fatally stabbed outside a property in Wensley Gardens on September 9 last year

Khalid Mokadeh, also known by the nickname K-Mocks, is accused of intending to murder Sami Al-Saroori when he stabbed him through the chest and into the heart, during an altercation outside a house party in Wensley Gardens just before midnight on September 9 last year.

Opening the trial at Sheffield Crown Court today, prosecutor, Nicholas Campbell QC, told jurors that Sami died at Northern General at 12.55am on September 10, of a stab wound to the chest that had cut through his chest bone and 'entered the heart'.

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Mr Campbell said: "Such an injury would have required the use of a severe amount of force.

A police cordon was put in place in Wensley Street, Firth Park, following the fatal stabbingA police cordon was put in place in Wensley Street, Firth Park, following the fatal stabbing
A police cordon was put in place in Wensley Street, Firth Park, following the fatal stabbing

"There was a second wound, to Mr. Al-Saroori’s right forearm, an injury that you will hear is typical of a defensive action."

The court was told how Sami and the defendant had both been in attendance at a party at the home of one of Sami's friends in Wensley Gardens in the run-up to the attack taking place.

Despite witnesses reporting seeing the two men shaking hands at the party and being civil with one another, Mr Campbell said it is the Crown's case that as the last of the guests were leaving the party, Mokadeh stabbed Sami outside.

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Mr Campbell told the court how witness, Carly Dexter, said she found Sami lying wounded in the street, at which point he said to her: 'Help me. I'm dying. Please'.

Sami leaves behind wife, Martina, and their daughter, Amelia, who was just six-years-old when her father was killed.Sami leaves behind wife, Martina, and their daughter, Amelia, who was just six-years-old when her father was killed.
Sami leaves behind wife, Martina, and their daughter, Amelia, who was just six-years-old when her father was killed.

The young woman then brought Sami into her grandmother's house.

Mr Campbell said: "He was in a bad way. An ambulance was called. As the occupants tended to him as best they could, Sami’s family was contacted. He repeated in the presence of these others: 'K-Mocks did it. I’m going to get him back'. He went on to say 'No. I’m not.' Those may have been the last words he was to speak."

Sami leaves behind wife, Martina, and their daughter, Amelia, who was just six-years-old when her father was killed.

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When arrested by police on the afternoon of September 10, Mokadeh, of The Oval, Firth Park admitted to causing Sami's death - but said he was acting in self-defence.

The scene on the Wensley Estate, following the fatal attackThe scene on the Wensley Estate, following the fatal attack
The scene on the Wensley Estate, following the fatal attack

Mr Campbell told jurors: "The amount of force that may be used when acting in lawful self defence must be reasonable; in short, you don’t take a sledge hammer to crack a nut. The prosecution case is that Mr Mokadeh was the aggressor that night, and Mr Al-Saroori had done nothing to merit what happened to him."

He went on to explain how Sami and his brother, Mohammed Al-Saroori, had known Mokadeh through a group of young people who hung around the Wensley Estate in Firth Park, who he described as being a community of people who 'look down on snitches' and do not confide in the police.

As well as being part of that group, Mr Campbell told the court that Sami, Mohammed and Mokadeh also belong to the city's Yemeni community.

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The Crown allege that Mokadeh stabbed Mohammed Al-Saroori in the street on May 25 last year, after Mohammed attempted to mediate in an altercation he saw Mokadeh having with another man.

A police cordon was put in place in Wensley Street, Firth Park, following the fatal stabbingA police cordon was put in place in Wensley Street, Firth Park, following the fatal stabbing
A police cordon was put in place in Wensley Street, Firth Park, following the fatal stabbing

Mokadeh was later shot in the leg during a street attack on June 15.

Both Mokadeh and Mohammed only gave full accounts to police of the attacks they had suffered in the wake of Sami's death, the court heard.

Sami and Mohammed's mother, Sabrah Al Saroori, went to visit Mokadeh at his family home after the attack on Mohammed, and also in the weeks following his shooting.

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During the visit, Sabrah alleges the defendant told her he had stabbed her son because Mohammed had 'belittled' him during the altercation in the street.

The Al-Saroori family subsequently received a hand-written note through their door, which they believed had been sent by the defendant.

It read: "Aslam Alakum. I’m sorry for what I had to put your family through in Ramadan. I’m sorry that I separated the family in a special time. Inshallah, Auntie, you forgive me. I haven’t got nothing else to offer, apart from to apologise to all the female part of the family, and the males. Sorry to you all, especially the mother.”

Sami leaves behind wife, Martina, and their daughter, Amelia, who was just six-years-old when her father was killed.Sami leaves behind wife, Martina, and their daughter, Amelia, who was just six-years-old when her father was killed.
Sami leaves behind wife, Martina, and their daughter, Amelia, who was just six-years-old when her father was killed.

When Sabrah went to visit the defendant in the weeks following his shooting, he is alleged to have told her he believed Sami had 'ordered' the attack on him.

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Mr Campbell said: "He said he was not happy with Sami; he said that her son had ordered his shooting. He then said words to the effect that he would 'do time' for Sami."

Mokadeh denies one count of murder, one count of wounding and a further count of possessing a bladed article.

The trial continues.