BBC NEWS
Four guilty of barman's killing
A teenage girl, two youths and a man have been convicted of the manslaughter of a barman during a night of violence.

But the four, and two others, were cleared of murdering David Morley on London's South Bank last October.

Mr Morley, 37, who survived the 2000 Soho nail bombing, was battered in an unprovoked attack by the gang - who were accused of another seven assaults.

Darren Case, 18, Reece Sargeant, 21, the girl and a 17-year-old youth stood impassively as verdicts were returned.

Barry Lee, 20, and a 17-year-old were cleared of all charges and freed.

Prosecutor Richard Horwell told the Old Bailey the youths, all from Kennington, south London, had been seeking violence for its own sake.

The girl, now 15, who cannot named for legal reasons, had kicked Mr Morley's head like a football as he lay on the ground, Mr Horwell told the court.

Codeword, 'smack'

During the early hours of 30 October 2004, they attacked eight people in five separate attacks, jurors heard.

During one videoed police interview played to the court, a witness said the gang used codewords to launch late-night attacks on victims.

She said: "When they went to go out and beat up people, they would say that (the codeword) to each other and then - smack.

"They would always go down to the South Bank or to a park or place where you get a lot of drunks really," she said.

Case, Sargeant, the girl and the 17-year-old were remanded in custody for pre-sentence reports and will be sentenced on January 23.

They were also convicted of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/london/4502662.stm

Published: 2005/12/14 16:12:11 GMT

© BBC MMV

In the US most of the adult type laws are at age 18.

In Britain you can join the military and go out on your own at 16.  Does this mean that 16 year olds are tried as adults?