Halifax stabbings: Teen found guilty of murder of two young men Joshua Clark and Haider Shah in Halifax town centre

Huddersfield’s Rashane Douglas, 19, now faces a life sentence for murdering Joshua Clark, 21, and Haider Shah, 19, after a jury at Bradford Crown Court today found him guilty by unanimous verdicts at the end of a trial lasting more than two weeks.

The jury found Douglas, of Jade Place, not guilty of attempting to murder a third man, Brandon Coope, but they convicted him on an alternative charge of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

Co-defendant Yaseen Iqbal, 18, of Hall Bower, Huddersfield, was also found guilty of assisting an offender after Douglas had carried out the stabbings in Commercial Street last October.

At the start of the trial, the jury were shown CCTV footage of the two young men collapsing to the ground after being fatally stabbed during a street confrontation outside Maggies nightclub.

Douglas admitted possession of a bladed article - a knife - before his trial got underway but he claimed he had been acting in self defence when he stabbed the three men.

After the jury returned their verdicts following almost eight hours of deliberation, Judge Jonathan Rose remanded Douglas and Iqbal into custody to await their sentences on a date yet to be fixed.

The judge told Douglas that he would understand that the only sentence that could be imposed was a life sentence of imprisonment.

But the judge will have to decide the minimum term that the teenager will have to serve before he could be considered for release.

At the start of the trial, prosecutor Mark McKone told the jury that Iqbal had helped to dispose of the clothes that Douglas had been wearing at the time of the stabbing and that clothing had never been found despite extensive searches.

The jury were shown CCTV clips from inside the nightclub which showed Haider Shah sitting in a booth with his arm around a woman before Douglas comes over to them and removes Mr Shah’s arm.

Mr McKone alleged that what happened inside the club showed a motive for the stabbings later.

He said Douglas had been expecting to meet the woman himself but she chose to be with Mr Shah.

Mr McKone alleged that Douglas was angry and asked Mr Shah for his name and where he was from.

After Mr Shah and the woman left the club they kissed before she got into a taxi and he returned to Maggies.

Mr McKone said the fatal stabbings took place at 3.47am after the man who survived made an attempt to punch Douglas in the street outside.

Douglas then crosses the road and was followed by the three men.

“Douglas then pulls out a knife from his pocket and holds it in his right hand,” said Mr McKone.

“He appears to hide the knife behind his right leg.”

Mr McKone said after the stabbings Douglas ran off in the direction of Wards End as two of the men collapsed to the ground.

Later it appeared that Douglas discarded the knife in a drain.

Mr McKone alleged that it was totally unreasonable for Douglas to react by stabbing the three men in the upper body and said none of the victims had a knife.