Teenagers killed man after sex abuse case was dropped

A boy and girl killed a suspected paedophile "to teach him a lesson" after discovering that a sex abuse case against him had been dropped.

The pair, who were 14 when they were arrested but are now 15, killed Robert Daley, 45, on the same day that the Crown Prosecution Service told him he would not be prosecuted.

Mr Daley was found dying of five stab wounds in his Brixton flat on 23 April. The boy was found guilty of murder and the girl was found guilty of manslaughter. The pair, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were remanded in custody for sentencing next month.

The Old Bailey heard that the girl, her 16-year-old sister and a woman had complained to police that Mr Daley had abused them. Only the 16-year-old had been willing to proceed with her allegations. Soon after receiving a call from police telling him lawyers considered there was a lack of evidence, Mr Daley rang the older girl. The court heard that she then rang her sister and the boy.

When the two teenagers arrived at Mr Daley's home a struggle broke out in the kitchen and he was fatally injured when two knife wounds punctured his heart. The teenagers denied the charges and told the jury they had attacked Mr Daley in self-defence. A spokesman for the CPS said it had considered all the evidence in the sex abuse allegations before deciding not to go ahead.