Teenagers charged over Damilola Taylor murder

Three teenagers were charged last night in connection with the murder of Damilola Taylor four years ago.

The 10-year-old schoolboy died in a stairwell on a run-down estate in south London after being stabbed with a jagged bottle on his way home from the library.

Scotland Yard has charged Hassan Jihad, an unemployed 19-year-old from Peckham and two brothers aged 16 and 17, both from south London.

They will appear at Camberwell Green magistrates' court today.

Four other teenagers were originally charged with the murder in Peckham and stood trial at the Old Bailey in 2002. They were acquitted when the evidence of a 14-year-old girl, who claimed she saw the killing, was thrown out of court after it was ruled unreliable. It was said that the girl had only claimed to have witnessed the murder because of a £50,000 reward offered by a newspaper.

Damilola was on his way home in the late afternoon in November 2000 when he was attacked in what police believe was an attempted robbery. His family had come to Britain from Nigeria only a few months earlier, seeking medical treatment for his sister.