Defendants in tears as verdict is announced

The teenage defendants burst into tears as the verdicts rang out, one being kissed by his mother, but Damilola’s parents, Richard and Gloria Taylor, showed little emotion.

When the boys walked free from the courtroom, Mr Taylor slumped forward and appeared to be lost in thought.

The couple left later without comment, but their solicitor Neil O’May said the verdict had come as a shock to them. He said they would continue in their struggle to discover what had happened to their son.

Meanwhile John Fashanu, a friend of Mr and Mrs Taylor, said he was ‘‘shocked, dismayed, surprised and upset’’, adding: ‘‘Knowing them very well, they will be finding it very difficult but they will be coping with it in the same way they have done in the last few months - very strongly,’’ he said.

‘‘At the same time, we wouldn’t want somebody convicted who was innocent.

‘‘Of course everybody had expectations that there was going to be a guilty verdict because there was an awful lot of man hours put into this case and an awful lot of money, going into millions, and I don’t think the Crown Prosecution Service would have brought this case unless they believed not 50% but 100% that they would get convictions.’’

Bola Ogun, chairman of the governors at Oliver Goldsmith School in Peckham, which Damilola attended, said of his parents: ‘‘For the last three months, they have sat in court and heard the most gruesome detail about what happened as the case was played out.

‘‘It is disappointing that at the end of that time, they don’t have the comfort of knowing that the people responsible for this horrendous crime are behind bars.’’

But the lawyer for the two brothers acquitted today said it was the only result ‘‘that truth and logic would allow’’.

Speaking outside the Old Bailey after the verdicts, solicitor Christopher Hartnell said the brothers were some distance away when ten-year-old Damilola died.

‘‘It will take months or years for them to come to terms with this,’’ he said.

Asked what the boys’ plans were for today, Mr Hartnell replied: ‘‘For some privacy for the first time in nine months.’’

The brothers had been remanded to a secure unit since June last year when they were charged.

Meanwhile, the Crown Prosecution Service said it always knew it would be a ‘‘difficult case’’.

In a statement, the service said: ‘‘We realised that it would be a difficult case to prosecute because of the lack of eyewitnesses who came forward.

‘‘However we considered that there was enough evidence to put before the court.’’

CPS lawyer Martin Haddon added: ‘‘This was a particularly harrowing case, especially since

Damilola’s last moments alive were captured on video and we could all see him skipping towards home, unaware of the danger he was in.’’