British teenage boy who killed a suspected paedophile "to teach him a lesson" has been given a life sentence. The 15-year-old was told he must serve at least nine years behind bars for the murder of Robert Daley, 45. A second teenager, a girl also aged 15, was given a six-year sentence for manslaughter. Daley was stabbed to death at his south London flat in April, hours after a child sex abuse case against him was dropped.
The court heard the girl, her 16-year-old sister and another woman each complained to police that Mr Daley had abused them. Only the 16-year-old had been willing to proceed with her allegation, leading to his arrest. However, lawyers decided there was a lack of evidence.
It was after a phone call in which Mr Daley rang the older girl and "gloated" about the case being dropped, that the boy - who was the 16-year-old's boyfriend - and the younger girl went to his home in Brixton and killed him.
Both of the teenagers, who were aged 14 at the time, were convicted last month at the Old Bailey. Judge Anthony Morris told the boy: "You saw what you were doing as acting in revenge for what you saw as an insult to your girlfriend." The court heard how the killers disposed of the blade, a mobile telephone and bloodstained clothing.
During sentencing, the judge said: "You both showed chilling criminal sophistication for 14 year olds." He added he was prepared to accept the allegations against Mr Daley were true. But he said it was "understandable" in the circumstances that the Crown Prosecution Service had dropped the case.
The court heard the boy had been excluded from school four times for various reasons, including having a knife in his bag and threatening another pupil, before finally being excluded permanently. His fellow killer was said to be "an intelligent girl who has poor control over her temper and a tendency to be aggressive to others".
Since being detained over Mr Daley's death she had been involved in eight incidents, five of which were assaults.
