Damilola died 'after bullies taunted his African accent'

Damilola Taylor was killed after being confronted by a group of taunting youths and bullied about his African accent, a 14-year-old boy told the Old Bailey yesterday.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said one of the alleged murderers made the confession last summer while they were both being held in a secure unit.

He said: "I remember him saying there were three other lads. Two of them were from the same estate. I don't think they meant to kill the boy but were just trying to scare him, calling him names and just surrounding him. He was calling him a batty man, meaning he was gay, because of his accent. They surrounded him, called him names and then stabbed him."

The boy, who was in the unit for taking drugs, denied lying about the conversation with the 15-year-old defendant. Two brothers, aged 16, are also on trial accused of murder.

Damilola died aged 10 after being stabbed on the North Peckham Estate, south London, in November 2000, three months after moving from Nigeria. The court has been told that his killers put a marble in his mouth after stabbing him.

The witness made his statement to police last month, althoughwhen he was questioned in September last year he denied having information. He admitted in court that he had once made a false allegation against a disabled man and wrongly picked him out in an identity parade.

The court has heard from a number of witnesses who claimed to have heard confessions while the defendants were being held in secure units.

One said the youngest of the defendants had told him that Damilola had died in a joke that went wrong. Another alleged that he had been told by one of the two brothers that Damilola had been killed because he was "getting too lippy".

The prosecution is expected to conclude its case today.