This is an absolutely frustrating documentary, as many crime documentaries in the UK are, when you see how easy it is to literally get away with murder.

Yousef was a normal 17-year-old boy who lived near Manchester and had two friends called Josh and Adam. One night an altercation happens that results in Yousef being stabbed and who later dies from his injuries. Josh and Adam are soon seen as the main suspects in this crime due to their stories not adding up and how awkward they appear with the police.

We soon get to piece together the events of what happened that day including a robbery gone wrong, as it was shown to the jury, and the fact that Yousef, Adam and Josh did drugs and were known to carry knives because they thought it was cool.

In one of Josh’s earlier police statements he admits to stabbing Yousef which in my eyes may not constitute a murder charge but definitely a manslaughter one, because he has caused the death of another human being. However Josh got away with this sentence only serving a few months in jail before being released to continue his life as normal.

And this is the sticking point for everyone who watches the documentary, how did this boy get away with the crime? It is called Killed by a Rich Kid and to me the part that makes him rich is the fact that his defence clearly had a good enough argument against him being the murderer despite his confession. We see that there was no CCTV at the area of the crime so it’s the boys’ words against each other, and with their conflicting statements and the arguments that could be made around who Yousef was in texts shown and his own background, it was very easy to muddy the jury’s view of what happened and not come to a clear conclusive answer.

I think it’s absolutely shocking that a boy died, who had his whole life ahead of him and it was brutally cut short by someone he saw as his friend, and then that friend got away literally with murder. I don’t understand how when you had his confession of him saying that he stabbed Yousef they couldn’t come to a clear answer of it being at least manslaughter. There is the self defence play that Josh gave but even that can easily be swayed if Adam, the other boy, gave better evidence, but even his story was inconsistent. It’s so frustrating when one family’s lives have been changed forever by the death of their child and another is not changed at all just because evidence doesn’t create a clear enough picture.

This is a very frustrating documentary to watch and while it is a hard watch it’s also very informative in letting people know that knife crime is a very serious and scary thing and people shouldn’t feel the need to protect themselves with weapons because of the world we live in today. The fact that these three boys were friends and clearly something happened that caused this in a moment of fury is so terrifying and means that anyone who carries knives it could happen to them just as easily.

I believe us as the audience need to take the show away and learn from it and let young people know that you may think that only bad people in your lives are your enemies but even your friends can turn on you in a second and do something that will change the course of everyone’s futures forever. I just hope that Yousef is resting in peace and his family will one day get the justice that they deserve because with Josh’s confession he did not deserve to only serve a few months in jail but many years for cutting the life of a promising young boy’s so short.

What do you think of Killed by a Rich Kid?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding