Father stoned to death: Killers caused havoc at Old Bailey during their trial
DAILY MAIL online.
01 September 2007
The boys 'caused havoc' at the Old Bailey during their trial for the manslaughter of Ernest Norton (below)
The five boys found guilty of stoning a father to death were caught causing "mischief" at the Old Bailey during their trial.
The judge had to order their parents to keep them under control after their unruly behaviour caused havoc.
It was revealed at the end of the trial that Judge Warwick McKinnon was forced to apply new bail conditions in the middle of the trial after their antics were reported to him by worried staff.
He said that the defendants had been "wandering around unaccompanied and conducting themselves in such a way that staff members are worried that they may well get up to mischief".
Two of them had been seen hanging out of windows, he said, and the behaviour had caused court staff concern and worry.
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The trial was held under special conditions to take into account the unusually young age of the defendants.
Neither barristers nor the judge wore formal court gowns or wigs and breaks in evidence have been much more frequent than usual to help the youngsters cope.
Each one of them has been accompanied to court every day by a parent to sit in the dock alongside them.
But it was not enough to stop one of the defendants, a 14-year-old boy, from resting his head on a screwed-up jumper and dozing off during the trial.
The court has heard that the boys belonged to a gang, with its own website called "TNE" or "The New Estate".
But one of them, a 14-year-old who also belonged to a boxing club, told the jury the gang did not have any purpose other than playing football and "manhunt", a form of hide-and-seek.
On the day of Mr Norton's death the five defendants had gone along, armed with a baseball bat, to confront another group, but were chased off by a passer-by, Stephan Gogot, who took the bat from them, the trial heard.
Earlier that day they had been amusing themselves by smashing windows at a disused factory and being "mouthy" to staff at Erith leisure centre, jurors heard.
But Nicholas Valios QC, defending the youngest boy, who was just ten at the time, urged the jury not to be swayed by the public concern over gang culture.
He claimed the boys were not a "gang of anti-social youths", as he said the prosecution had sought to portray them.
"Every day one has read something about gangs of people killing innocent others, people kicked or knifed to death or shot dead by youths who have been terrorising estates. That really isn't this case," Mr Valios said.
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