Danny and Ricky Preddie

Danny and Rickie Preddie found guilty.

Damilola Taylor, aged 10, bled to death on a stairwell on a rundown housing estate in Peckham, in London, in 2000.

We remember TV pictures of some of the police who were supposed to be part of the murder investigation. They appeared to be smirking.

The pitiless culture of the Damilola killers is spreading

A lifestyle of casual violence, complete with uniforms, is taking root on urban streets in the UK, reported Stuart Wavell in an important article in The Sunday Times (UK) on 15 October 2006.

Wavel wrote:

The lawless gang of which Danny and Ricky Preddie were members when they stabbed 10-year-old Damilola in November 2000 continues to wreak mayhem...

This does not say much for the effectiveness of the London police or Blair's Labour government.

Wavel continues:

Mike Presdee, head of criminology at Kent University, has studied the Peckham Boys and other teenage gangs over many years. He says they talk about their street confrontations in terms of unscripted drama performances which they improvise...

Their father, Alfred, emigrated from Jamaica to Britain in 1966 to become a shopkeeper and married twice, siring many children before his death in 2004. Their mother, Marion, was described as a fiery woman of Jamaican origin. The boys dropped out of school and were effectively left to fend for themselves.

Yes, fathers are important. Yes, upbringing is important.

The cruelty such children inflict on vulnerable youngsters not only enlivens their dull lives, but reflects society’s increasing insensitivity to violence, Presdee believes. “Most of us have seen someone killed through the media. Vicarious experience is no longer enough.”

Yes, the media must take a lot of the blame for the spread of violent crime.

Wavel continues:

The psychotherapist Camilla Batmanghelidjh has observed the metamorphosis of individuals and the escalating level of violence during the 11 years since she founded Kids Company...

In her experience, the process begins in infancy with a disruption to the loving relationship with a maternal figure that develops those areas of the brain responsible for social behaviour.

“It could be that the maternal carer is very stressed or drug-addicted, so she becomes desynchronised with the child.”

Yes, mothers are important.

Wavel continues:

Add constant exposure to abusive situations and a state of terror sets in.

“These kids will tell you that they can’t calm down. They can’t sit still or sleep, and need action. They find it very difficult to concentrate at school.”

Damilola

The government scientist could not see the blood.

Some years later, a private testing company could see the blood.

~~

Damilola Taylor, aged 10, died in 2000.

In 2006, a forensic scientist, Sian Hedges, told the court she did not know how she missed a spot of Damilola Taylor's blood during the murder inquiry back in 2000. ( Scientist missed Damilola 'clue' )

The blood was 'on the heel of a trainer''.



That blood was found in 2004, when an inquiry into Damilola's death reopened.

The trainer is alleged to have belonged to one of the Preddie brothers.

Ros Hammond, of private testing company Forensic Alliance, said she saw the bloodspot with her naked eye, and had found it on a photograph taken by Ms Hedges, once it was enlarged.

"It seems they had not identified the blood staining," Ms Hammond told the Old Bailey.

The spot of blood, which appears to have fallen from above, was less than a centimetre wide.

Ms Hedges, who worked for Home Office agency the Forensic Science Service, told the trial she had found two blood spots and tested the rest of the trainer, but found no other blood.

She said: "I performed the tests as they are in my notes. I do not have any other explanation."

Shown the trainer in court, she agreed she could see the blood stain on the heel.

The prosecution said the new evidence points "with certainty" to the participation of the three accused in the attack on Damilola. Reportedly, spots of blood and fibres link three youths to the killing of schoolboy Damilola Taylor.

April 2006

Two teenage brothers were found not guilty of the murder of Damilola Taylor at the Old Bailey on 4 April 2006 but the jury could not reach agreement on the lesser charge of manslaughter. On 3 April 2006, Hassan Jihad was found not guilty.

August 2006 : Preddie Brothers found guilty of Damilola death

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The police have been accused of racism and of not carrying out an effective enquiry.

~~~

2002

In 2002, four youths went on trial for the murder of Damilola.

The trial led to all four suspects being acquitted.

The judge ruled that the prosecution's key witness, a 12-year-old girl, was unreliable.

The following is taken from the site:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/1921475.stm

The comments on a BBC programme are dated April 2002 and refer to the 2002 trial.

* I cannot understand how vital evidence was not told to the jury, for instance a fragment of glass, from the bottle that killed Damilola, was found in the trainer of one of the boys. But the judge ruled that the jury should not hear it. Another example was how one of the boys admitted to the killing of Damilola, but this was not heard.

* Having watched the excellent Panorama programme on the trial I'm amazed that no one (or agency) has been able to stop the activities of this seemingly well known gang "The Untouchables".

* Clever educated manipulation of a working class jury has, I suspect, allowed guilty parties to go free. I have no love for the police service as I consider it sadly inept.

* At the end of the programme we heard how one of the accused confessed, then the judge decided not to let the jury hear this confession because the boy was upset.

~~

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