Five guilty of schoolboy stabbing

Zac Olumegbon, 15, who was fatally stabbed outside a south London school in July last year

Published: 1:08pm, 14th November 2011
Updated: 8:01pm, 14th November 2011

Five teenagers have been convicted of killing a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed to death as he arrived at school.

Four of the youths were found guilty of murder and one of manslaughter. They will be sentenced next month.

The Old Bailey heard that within moments of being hounded down, Zac Olumegbon lay dying on his back in the garden of a house just metres from the school. He had been stabbed four times, two of the wounds piercing his heart.

The killers, who were aged 15-17 at the time, killed Zac outside Park Campus School in West Norwood, south London, in July last year.

Edward Brown QC, prosecuting, said: "He found himself hounded down and killed. He had only just arrived at his school that morning. He was killed a matter of metres from it."

The youths were armed with at least two knives and had deliberately been driven to the school to attack Zac, jurors heard. Another young boy was injured in the confrontation but all the signs were that Zac was the "prime target", said Mr Brown.

Mr Brown said the defendants were members of the GAS (Guns And Shanks) gang from Brixton. Zac was associated with the rival TN1 (Trust No-One) gang from Tulse Hill. "Zac was a member of it and was known as Little Zac," said Mr Brown.

Judge Giles Forrester lifted a ban on reporting the identities of the young defendants, who are all from south London.

Helder Demorais, 17, Ricardo Giddings, 17, Jamal Moore, 17, and Kyle Kinghorn, 18, were found guilty of murder and face life terms. Shaquille Haughton, 16, was found guilty of manslaughter.

Zac's mother Shakira told the court of the pain of losing her youngest child. In a statement, she said: "The scene that confronted me when I reached the school is indescribable. Even though Zac was young, he touched many lives."