Bourke St stabber Bol Mangok found not guilty of murdering Kose Kose

A man involved in a wild Bourke St brawl will walk free after a jury found him not guilty of murdering Cranbourne man Kose Kose, despite his lawyer admitting he struck the fatal blows.

Bourke St stabber Bol Mangok is set to walk free from jail after a jury found him not guilty of murdering Kose Kose, 20, in a wild brawl despite his lawyer admitting he struck the fatal blows.

Mr Mangok was on Tuesday found not guilty of murder or the alternate charge of manslaughter, and also not guilty of four counts of causing injury to two other men during a fracas on October 30, 2022.

The Supreme Court’s Justice Amanda Fox told the acquitted killer there was “nothing keeping him in custody from the point of view of this court”, save for one minor hiccup.

Crown prosecutor Neill Hutton said there may be a warrant out for Mr Mangok’s arrest in WA, leading Her Honour to take a “degree of pragmatism” and hold Mr Mangok in the cells.

“If a warrant is not executed, he is to be released from the cells forthwith,” Justice Fox said.

Cranbourne man Kose Kose, 20, died from stab wounds.

Tributes left at the scene.

The jury’s not guilty verdicts on five charges – and an alternate charge of manslaughter – come after Mr Mangok’s defence lawyer confirmed that his client did deliberately stab Mr Kose, 20, causing his death.

But barrister Daniel Sala claimed, “he was acting in self defence”.

“What was this young man’s intention?” he asked.

“Defence say it was simply to stop the aggression.”

The jury must have agreed, taking just one day to return their findings following weeks of evidence.

Mr Mangok was aged 20 when he rushed to a fight on Bourke St where his mate, Daniel Abdelrahman, was being bashed by a trio of assailants.

The court was shown graphic footage of Mr Kose, Timothy Leek and Jacob Kuol beating Mr Abdelrahman to the ground and kicking him in the face.

CCTV depicted a witness to the fight rushing to the nearby daHa bar on Queen St where he told clubber Mr Mangok something, before he ran to the scene.

The Delahey man was accused of stabbing all three attackers just after 5.30am that morning, although Mr Sala said there was “no evidence” he stabbed Mr Leek or Mr Kuol.

Mr Sala did concede that his client deliberately stabbed Cranbourne man Mr Kose, who stumbled a few metres before he fell on Bourke St.

He died in the street from a collapsed lung, suffering five stab wounds, including three to his back.