FISE AMES MURDER TRIAL: Three cleared of murder but Shaun Riches GUILTY of manslaughter

Jurors have found Shaun Riches, Michael Raine and Scott Mitchell not guilty of murdering Faisal Ames Abdou, 25, in a knife attack in a bedroom at his home in South Shields, in March.

Riches, who admitted he stabbed Mr Abdou but claimed it was in self defence, was found guilty of his manslaughter after a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

The other two men were cleared of manslaughter.

Judge Penny Moreland said Riches will be sentenced in October and remanded him in custody in the meantime.

The judge said: "The question of dangerousness will have to be considered.

"I will direct a pre-sentence report as to the issue of dangerousness."

Toby Hedworth QC, defending Riches, said: "He is going to have to be assessed by a psychiatrist."

Mr Abdou, who was living with Brandon Cairns at Marshall Wallis Road at the time, died as a result of blood loss from stab wounds to his legs.

The court heard during the trial the three accused men and Mr Abdou lived in a "dark and dangerous world", "a world where violence was common place" and were drug users.

Riches, 24, of Wycliffe Avenue, Newcastle, Raine, 35, of Grace House, Percy Main, North Tyneside, and Mitchell, 25, of no fixed abode, all told jurors they had gone to the flat that night to visit Mr Cairns with some MDMA and did not know Mr Abdou was living there.

During his evidence, Riches admitted he stabbed Mr Abdou, who he claimed was armed with a knife but said it was "in self defence" and "he would have tried to kill one of us".

Riches said he kicked Mr Abdou in the chest, which caused him to drop the knife to the floor but he started "reaching about on the bed", where there was another knife.

He told jurors: "I picked the knife up off the floor.

"I started stabbing him in the legs.

"I was scared.

"He would have tried to kill one of us."

Riches said he did not know how many times he used the knife but added: "I never wanted to seriously hurt him."

He added that he was "gutted" when he found out Mr Abdou had died and told the court: "I didn't expect him to die by stabbing him in the legs.

"It was self defence.

"He was going to stab me."

Mitchell told jurors he had punched Mr Abdou, who he said had tried to hit him and came at him with a knife.

Raine denied any involvement in any violence.

The court heard Mr Abdou was taken to South Tyneside Hospital after the attack but died through blood loss.

One of his wounds, which was below his right knee, cut a major vein in half and would have been fatal on its own.

A pathologist concluded the other wounds contributed to the loss of blood which killed him.