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Name: THE OLD BAILEY . Favorite quote: "Defend the Children of the Poor & Punish the Wrongdoer". Location: London. Hometown: LONDON Places lived: ALWAYS ON OLD BAILEY , LONDON. More about you: BUILT IN 1907 AND ADDED TO IN 1972 ON THE SITE OF NEWGATE PRISON. Occupation: A place of history and law. THIS WEBSITE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CITY OF LONDON OR THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE.

Wednesday 24 November 2010

STONED TO DEATH BY ' CHILDREN '. ( 2007 )

Father stoned to death: Killers caused havoc at Old Bailey during their trial

DAILY MAIL online.
 01 September 2007
The Old Bailey
The boys 'caused havoc' at the Old Bailey during their trial for the manslaughter of Ernest Norton (below)
Ernest Norton

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 judged ordered that they should be accompanied by an appropriate adult or solicitor while in the precincts of the court.
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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