Three teenagers have denied murdering a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed in the Moss Side area of Manchester.
Mohanad Goobe, described by his family as a popular boy with an “uncanny ability to make you laugh”, was fatally stabbed at about 16:30 GMT on 15 September.
The three accused boys, one aged 14 and two aged 15, cannot be named due their age.
During a brief hearing at Manchester Crown Court they all pleaded not guilty to murder. Their trial – expected to last three weeks at the same venue – is due to start on 9 March.
In a tribute released after Mohanad’s death, his family said: “It is difficult to comprehend that seeing your son head off for school in the morning would be the last time that we would see that handsome face.”
Mohanad had “an uncanny ability to make you laugh,” they said, “making it sometimes difficult to be serious with him.
“Mohanad had many friends, he was loyal and often played the class clown, simply to see them laugh.”
