[roberto]

Jeering mob of children 'stoned father to death as he played cricket'
Last updated at 18:45pm on 31st July 2007

Five boys as young as 10 stoned to death a man playing cricket with his son, the Old Bailey heard today.

They were part of a gang that launched the assault that triggered a heart attack in 67-year-old Ernest Norton, the jury was told.

It was an "unnecessary, pointless and random attack" on a Sunday afternoon at Erith leisure centre, Kent, the court heard.

The gang shouted abuse at Mr Norton as he played cricket with son James, 17 on the outside tennis courts. When Mr Norton objected they bombarded him with rocks and wood. Hit at least twice, he collapsed and died.

"The defendants' youth is no defence,î said David Fisher QC, prosecuting. "They were jointly responsible for this attack and jointly responsible for the death."

The five defendants, all from Erith, sat in the dock with their parents. None has any previous convictions or police cautions.

They cannot be identified because of their age. The youngest, 10 when Mr Norton died in February last year, is now 12. The oldest was 13 and is now 14.

The group, with up to 15 members, had shouted that James was "a rubbish bowler" and told his father to "go back to your old people's home", the jury was told. Mr Norton warned the gang to "p*** off" and the bombardment began, the court heard; he walked forward but was felled by a blow to his left temple which fractured his jaw.

The 12-year-old boy who allegedly threw the stone "stood there and laughed" then ran off, a 13-year-old girl witness told police. The boy, now aged 14, is said to have shouted at Mr Norton, "I'm going to knock you out," calling him a "no-tooth c***".

One witness said the stone was as big as "half a brick", the court heard. Some of the throwers were allegedly part of a gang known as The New Estate.

A neighbouring householder saw the gang throwing missiles towards the courts, the jury heard. "She then heard one of the group shout, 'Oh, no!' and they ran away," said Mr Fisher.

"As the boys ran past her house she heard one say, 'He's dead, he's dead.' He was panicking."

Another witness heard one of the boys say: "Did you get him?" and others reply: "Yeah, I think so," "Yeah, I got a shot," and "I think I got him with one."

Mr Norton, who lived with wife Linda in Erith, had undergone a triple heart by-pass 29 years earlier but was active and healthy, said Mr Fisher.

"The stress and trauma of abuse and a physical attack would make him vulnerable to a heart attack," he added. James ran for help and an off-duty police officer found Mr Norton unconscious in a pool of blood. He was pronounced dead by a doctor who had arrived with a helicopter medical team.

Mr Fisher warned the jury to set aside any sympathy for the young boys in the dock.

"Their youth is no defence," he said. "They were quite old enough to know that to abuse Mr Norton and his son was wrong and that to throw stones and pieces of wood at them was wrong... but it was their course of conduct, quite probably with others, that caused his death."

The five youths all deny manslaughter and violent disorder. The case continues