5:15pm Monday 13th August 2012
TWO teenagers have been found guilty of killing a student who was run over by a bus.
Ezekiel Amosu, 17, was running away after being confronted by a group of youths armed with sticks and bricks.
He then fell in front of the number 123 bus in Forest Road, Walthamstow, on January 24 last year.
Five boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were charged with his manslaughter.
And today an Old Bailey jury convicted a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old of manslaughter, but cleared the other three.
Jurors also dismissed allegations that the group tried to rob Mr Amosu, a music student at Leyton Sixth Form College in Essex Road.
The court heard he was with a 13-year-old boy and three 16-year-old boys when he was attacked in Essex Close, Walthamstow, at 7.15pm, by a group carrying stones and a plank of wood.
His friend Jelani Miles-Bell, now 18, escaped by running across Forest Road.
He said: “They were asking Ezekiel questions, and the one with the plank goes, ‘ah, I feel like a bully’ and asked Ezekiel what phone has he got, and the other two were kind of hyping it – just trying to big it up.
“I looked at Ezekiel and I was, like, should I run? And he was like, ‘you can run while I just sort this out’.
“Then I ran because I was panicking – I just ran. Then when I got home I got a phone call saying one of them guys pushed Ezekiel in front of a bus.’
Ezekiel also tried to run towards Forest Road after the youths started throwing rocks at him. the court heard.
Witnesses claimed that one of three attackers shouted ‘stop him’ to a fourth boy standing near a bus stop.
That boy, now 17, was accused of deliberately tripping Ezekiel, causing him to fall into the path of the bus, but was cleared of manslaughter by the jury.
He claimed Ezekiel ran into him and tripped up by accident.
Mr Amosu’s 13-year-old friend was called as a prosecution witness at the previous trial of four of the defendants.
But it emerged he was in regular phone contact with the accused and had agreed to change his evidence.
He also told his stepmother that he had agreed to the robbery which led to Mr Amosu’s death in return for a cut of the proceeds.
He later became a defendant in the latest trial and was cleared of manslaughter, attempted robbery and perverting the course of justice.
A 17 year-old was convicted of manslaughter and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice but was cleared of two charges of attempted robbery and perverting the course of justice.
A 16 year-old was found guilty of manslaughter but acquitted of two charges of attempted robbery, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and perverting the course of justice.
A second 17 year-old, who was accused of tripping up Mr Amosu, was cleared of manslaughter and walked free from court.
A second 16 year-old was acquitted of manslaughter, two charges of attempted robbery, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and perverting the course of justice. He walked free from court.
The 13 year-old boy was cleared of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice but was convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
All three teenagers convicted today will be sentenced on September 24 or 25.