Two Teens Convicted in Boy’s Death

Two teenage brothers were convicted of manslaughter Wednesday in the killing of a 10-year-old Nigerian boy as he walked home from a library here nearly six years ago.

Ricky Preddie, 19, and Danny Preddie, 18, were 13 and 12 when Damilola Taylor was stabbed with a broken beer bottle. He died in the stairwell of a run-down apartment building near his home in south London.

They had denied the charges and were cleared of murder counts in April. A third defendant, Hassan Jihad, 20, also was acquitted.

Damilola’s parents, Richard and Gloria Taylor, welcomed Wednesday’s verdict from a jury at London’s Old Bailey.

“It is a great comfort that justice has finally been done for Damilola,” they said in a family statement, read by Richard Taylor. “We pray that his gentle soul can now rest in peace.”

The maximum sentence for manslaughter is life imprisonment, but it is not mandatory and the court could grant the Preddies permission to appeal.

The Preddies were arrested a few days after the slaying but released in the absence of sufficient forensic evidence.

The two brothers, members of a local gang, were arrested again in 2005 when a second forensic examination of clothing seized from the boys found spots of Damilola’s blood and fibers from his school uniform.

Four other youths younger than 18 were tried and acquitted on murder charges in 2002.