Boys detained for stoning man, 67

12 April 2012

Five boys aged 12 to 14 have been locked up for two years each for killing a pensioner as he played cricket with his teenage son.

Ernest Norton, 67, came under a hail of sticks and stones as he and son James practised bowling together in February last year at Erith leisure centre in Kent.

Two stones, one the size of half a brick, struck the father of two on the temple and fractured his cheekbone, and he collapsed to the ground with a heart attack.

Five boys, one of whom was just 10 at the time, were convicted at the Old Bailey of manslaughter and violent disorder in August.

The youngest, now 12, and his brother, 13, as well as three other boys all aged 14 were given sentences in youth detention by Judge Warwick McKinnon.

The judge described their conduct as "utterly disgraceful and criminally irresponsible".

Some of the boys wept as they hugged their parents, many of whom were also crying, before being taken down.

The judge described it as a "sorry and tragic case".

He said: "A child would realise your actions were dangerous, running the risk that injury would result. I am satisfied that each one of you were aware of that danger.

"No sentence can restore the human life that has been needlessly and senselessly lost by this display of mindless violence."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in