TWO men have been found not guilty of assaulting police officers after a brawl broke out in court as guilty murder verdicts were read.
Hussain Al-Kubanji, 21, and Reuben Gabriel, 21, were on trial at Oxford Crown Court charged with assault by beating of an officer and obstructing an officer after an incident during a murder trial at Reading Crown Court last year.
Officers surrounded and blocked off access to Reading Crown Court in March 2033 as the jury returned guilty verdicts in the murder trial of 24-year-old Mohammed Rafaqit Kayani who died from a fatal stab wound to the chest during an incident in Keel Drive in August, 2022.
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On April 3, 2023, Riaz Miah, 21, of no fixed abode, and Hassan Al-Kubanji, 22, of Peabody Avenue, London were jailed for life to serve minimum terms of 24 and 23 years respectively.
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When the verdicts were read out at about 2.20pm, an eyewitness described the defendants beginning to shout as well as people in the public gallery ‘banging’ on the dock window.
It was heard that threats were made to the jury who were ‘climbing over their desks’ to leave the room.
The two defendants were charged - Al-Kubanji was also charged with using threatening/abusive words/behaviour – but have since been found not guilty of all charges following the trial.
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