Brothers cleared of Damilola murder

Two 16-year-old brothers were today cleared of the murder of schoolboy Damilola Taylor.

They were the last of the original four defendants at the Old Bailey to be acquitted of killing 10-year-old Damilola.

A jury of four women and seven men found the brothers not guilty of murder, manslaughter and assault with intent to rob.

A 15-year-old youth and the brothers's 17-year-old friend were cleared of the charges earlier in the three-month trial on the direction of the judge, Mr Justice Hooper.

They had all denied attacking Damilola on the North Peckham Estate, south London, on November 27, 2000. They cannot be named for legal reasons.

Damilola was found on a stairwell in a block of flats in Blakes Road, bleeding to death from a thigh wound caused by part of a broken beer bottle.

The prosecution said it had been caused by deliberate stabbing or "juking" during an attempted robbery by a bullying local gang.

But the defence argued that there was nothing to show that Damilola had been attacked and that his injuries were probably accidental.

The brothers are from Peckham.