A TEENAGE defendant was not among a group who attacked Mohammad Parvaiz like wild animals, a barrister told Leeds Crown Court.
David Nathan QC said his 17-year-old client had only been at the scene of the attack on the father-of-three because he had wanted to fit in.
In his closing argument the barrister told jurors that the youth - who can't be named for legal reasons - had been taunted by some of his fellow accused.
Mr Nathan said: "The others used to tease him because he was well-off and because he had to go home to study."
On the night of the fatal attack on the taxi driver the youth had gone along with the plan to smash up his cab.
He said: "All he wanted to do was to fit in and be accepted by them, so he agreed to throw a stone.
"As a consequence of wanting to fit in he finds himself in the dock accused of murder.
"It's very easy to think it could be one of our children. Young men do not always think things through."
Mr Nathan said his client had thrown a stone through the cab's rear window.
But he said this did not mean he was guilty of murder.
Mr Nathan added: "Mohammad Parvaiz didn't die because a group of thoughtless kids threw stones at his taxi.
"He died because three or four young men behaved like wild animals.
"They dragged that poor man from his taxi and pummeled him with punches, kicks, stones and sticks. That's why he died."
Mr Nathan said his client played no role in the assault.
He said: "Did he take any part in that ghastly, horrific attack? The prosecution do not suggest that he did."
And Mr Nathan said there was a lack of forensic evidence against his client.
He said: "There isn't a splatter, a speck, not a microscopic speck, of Mohammad Parvaiz's blood on my client's shoes, his trousers or his shirt."
And Mr Nathan said the youth, who was arrested soon after the attack, had been honest with police from the start.
He said: "On July 23 he chose to answer questions without knowing what evidence would come to light.
"He told detectives that the plan was to do harm to the vehicle and that was all that he had done.
"After all these months not one single word of hard evidence has contradicted that."
The case continues.
