Mariam Moustafa death: Nottingham attack 'fuelled by social media'

An engineering student who died after being attacked by a group of teenagers was targeted in a row "over a boy", a court heard.

Mariam Moustafa, 18, fell into a coma after she was punched several times in Nottingham in February 2018, and died of a stroke the following month.

Nottingham Crown Court heard the attack was "fuelled by social media".

Mariah Fraser, 20, Britania Hunter, 18, and a 16-year-old girl who cannot be named have pleaded guilty to affray.

Their sentencing hearing is due to finish on Friday.

One of the six females involved in the attack, who cannot be named, had told Miss Moustafa "I have got beef with you" and had sent a message to another in the group saying she wanted to "cut" the victim, the court heard.

The hearing was told two of the six, the 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old who will be sentenced later this month, were the main aggressors in the altercation "over a boy", while the others were either filming the incident or laughing while watching.

Luke Blackburn, prosecuting, said footage showed Miss Moustafa looking "frightened, passive and, towards the end, obviously unwell".

"To call it an argument would be a mis-description as it was all one way," he said.

Mr Blackburn said the six defendants followed Miss Moustafa - an Egyptian national who was born in Rome - and her friend Pablo Jawara on to the bus.

"Mr Jawara stood up and did his best to physically protect his friend," he said.

The court heard although Miss Moustafa died weeks after the attack, four pathologists had concluded it could not be "reliably linked" to her falling into a coma or her death and manslaughter charges could not be considered.

Her family had not been informed about a hearing in April where Fraser, Hunter and the 16-year-old admitted affray a week before their trial, and the Crown Prosecution Service subsequently apologised to the family.

Three other teenage girls, aged 18, 17 and 16, also pleaded guilty to affray at Nottingham Youth Court last year, and are due to be sentenced on 19 June.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.