Damilola: teenagers appear at Old Bailey

The site where 10-year-old Damilola Taylor died is due to be demolished before the trial of teenage boys accused of his murder is due to take place, the Old Bailey heard today.

The whole area on the Peckham estate in south London is subject to a regeneration programme, said Brian Altman, prosecuting, at a pre-trial hearing.

He said appeals had been made to the local authority to postpone the demolition in case a view may be required by jurors who will eventually try those accused. But he feared they may not succeed.

Two 15-year-old boys today denied murdering the 10-year-old on November 27 last year, when they appeared for a brief first-time hearing at the Old Bailey today.

Proceedings against two others aged 14 and 16 - also accused of the murder - were adjourned to a later date.

The trial date was set for January 15 next year.

The boys were arrested in June this year - seven months after the schoolboy was killed on his way home from a computer class at his local library in Peckham, south London.

Nigerian-born Damilola bled to death in a stairwell after he was stabbed in the leg.

The four teenagers cannot be identified because of their ages. Special arrangements were made for their appearance at England’s premier court under the Lord Chief Justice’s recommendations for trials of children and young persons.