Yahoo News Teenager Jailed Over Pensioner's Riot Death
A teenager who killed a pensioner during last year's riots in London has been sentenced to eight years in jail.
Darrell Desuze, 17, punched Richard Mannington Bowes to the ground as disturbances swept the country on August 8 last year.
His mother Lavinia Desuze, 31, was jailed for 18 months at the same court for perverting the course of justice by cutting up his clothes.
Mr Mannington Bowes, who had been trying to put out a fire in a dustbin near his home in Ealing, west London, suffered brain damage and died in hospital.
Desuze was caught on camera kicking in the glass doors of a shopping centre before joining a mob that attacked heavily outnumbered police with missiles.
Sentencing the teenager at Inner London Crown Court, Mr Justice Saunders said: "Darrell Desuze played a full part in that violence.
"He can be seen on the CCTV smashing windows, looting shops, throwing missiles at the police and wheeling rubbish bins into the street so that they could be set on fire."
Wearing sunglasses and a distinctive top saying 'Robbers and Villains', he threw his full weight behind a punch to Mr Bowes' jaw, buckling his legs and knocking him unconscious.
The pensioner fell backwards on to the pavement and his head took the full force of the impact.
Prosecutors said police were "simply unable to reach Mr Bowes for some minutes because of the violence against them".
Speaking outside the court, Anne Wilderspin, Mr Bowes' sister, said: "I was devastated by his untimely and unnecessary death.
"Today he [Desuze] has been sentenced to eight years and I think that justice has been served.
"Whilst I cannot in any way condone his actions in killing my brother, and the terrible acts which deprived so many of their livelihoods, some months ago I decided to forgive Darrell.
"I found this to be a costly act but as a committed Christian I needed to forgive."
She added: "Darrell and his mother have blown their prospects as regards opportunities for future employment. Their integrity is hopelessly damaged.
"I hope and pray that they will now have the opportunity to look at their lifestyles in a different light so as to find a new purpose in life."
