Man acquitted in Damilola murder trial

A man was cleared today of the murder of schoolboy Damilola Taylor.

Hassan Jihad, 20, from Peckham, south London, was found not guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey.

The jurors were still deliberating on murder charges against two other youths, two brothers aged 17 and 18, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Nigerian-born Damilola, who was ten, had been in Britain for only three months when he was killed in Peckham on November 27, 2000.

Damilola was found bleeding to death from a wound to his left thigh in a stairwell on the North Peckham estate.

The prosecution alleged he was attacked with a broken beer bottle during an attempted robbery by the accused.

The defendants denied being involved in any way. A defence expert said Damilola may have died after he fell on the broken bottle.

Jihad and the two brothers denied murder, manslaughter and assault with intent to rob.

Jihad was cleared today of all the charges.

The jury were told they could reach majority verdicts on the charges against the other two defendants.

The seven women and four men of the jury were sent out to consider their verdicts four days ago.

Four youths aged under 18 were all cleared of killing Damilola following a trial in 2002.

The jury returned to court an hour later after sending the judge a note saying it could not reach a majority verdict.

The members retired again after Mr Justice Leveson asked them to consider if there was no prospect of them reaching majority verdicts if given more time.

He also asked them to consider if there were any points on which they needed assistance.

Jihad had earlier left the court without making any comment.

The jury was sent home for the night and will continue deliberating the remaining verdicts tomorrow