Dad stoned to death by gang Boys aged 10 to 13 killed cricket dad, jury told By Emily Nash 01/08/2007 A DAD was killed by a gang of kids who hurled sticks and stones at him as he played cricket with his son, a court heard yesterday. Father-of-two Ernest Norton, 67, was hit with the hail of missiles after a baying mob of up to 15 children targeted him as he enjoyed the game on a tennis court at a leisure centre. Five boys, then aged between 10 and 13, were among the gang who heckled, taunted and spat at him before launching the "pointless and random" assault, the Old Bailey jury was told. Advertisement Mr Norton collapsed bleeding heavily after one of the stones - described as a "half-sized" brick - hit him on the temple and fractured his cheekbone as he walked to confront them. He suffered a heart attack and died despite the frantic efforts of his son James, 17, and an off-duty policeman to save him. When the gang scattered, one was heard bragging: "I got a shot. I got him with one." Police later found at least 17 stones of varying sizes at the tennis court. David Fisher QC, prosecuting, said the attack at Erith Leisure Centre in Kent, in February 2006, was "unnecessary, pointless and random", adding: "These five were jointly responsible for the attack and jointly responsible for his death. "Youth is no defence. They were quite old enough to know that the abuse of Ernest Norton and his son was wrong and to throw stones and pieces of wood at them was deeply wrong. "I hope they deeply regret his death and there's no doubt they did not intend he should die. But it's their joint course of conduct, quite probably with others, that caused his death." Mr Fisher said that after the initial cat-calling, some of the mob - said to be members of a street gang who had gathered for a fight with rivals - wandered off to nearby woods, leaving a smaller group of five to seven boys. It was these who had launched the barrage against Mr Norton. Two of them even climbed the fence to continue the assault at closer quarters. As Mr Fisher outlined the Crown's case, the boys, two of them brothers, sat with their parents in the dock. The youngest, who is less than 5ft tall, struggled to see over the top. Mr Norton's wife Linda, who was in the leisure centre gym when the attack happened, sat a few yards from the accused, who cannot be named. Jurors heard that the gang had been thrown out of the leisure centre after turning "mouthy" when refused a swim. Another man had taken a baseball bat off a boy after confronting two groups of youngsters he thought were about to start fighting. He used it to scare away a group of around 20 youths as they closed in on him. They were last seen heading for the tennis courts. It was said that DNA tests on saliva found on Mr Norton's jacket matched that of two of the boys. And the jury was told postmortem tests revealed stress from the stoning had triggered the heart attack which killed Mr Norton, who had a triple bypass in 1977 and was suffering from heart disease. When arrested three of the boys pointed the finger at the same teenager claiming he had thrown the killer brick. In a police interview that boy said: "I have not done it. I'm very sorry, what have I done? I'm so scared." The boys claimed Mr Norton, from Erith, had sworn at them first and that they had only wanted to hit the stumps with the stones and wreck his game. The accused, all from South East London, and now aged between 11 and 14, deny manslaughter and violent disorder. The case continues. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2007/08/01/dad-stoned-to-death-by-gang-89520-19551652/
The kids are out of control today. A decade ago and the worst that could of happened is someone tying your platts around a lamp post and kicking you in the stomach. Now it is mutilation, stabbings, shootings and stoning. I hear time and time again how people say young people have nothing to do due to a lack of social youth clubs. Being bored is not an excuse for murder. Kids are growing up faster than ever. Some five year old was in the internet library just now. No parents, just her. She has gone home now or perhaps gone to pay the rent.
really? i was cooking and cleaning for myself from age five, pretty much taking care of myself all the time, picking up my mother's cigarettes at the store on my way home from kindergarten. i can't imagine that ever happening now.
when I was five, I was not allowed to go out by myself. I couldn't buy ciggerettes either. They would have said, "You don't look 16". I don't know about now, but in the 1950's, kids were allowed out and you could leave the door open without someone nicking your hoover. I suppose in them days a five year old could go to a newsagent and purchase ciggerettes. Life was simple then.
yeah, man, this was long beach california, circa 1980. mom had to work because dad was a selfish loser. kids were so much more free when i was young.
Hah, when i was 5 I went out by myself all the time.. course, the only transport I had was me bike so I couldn't exactly get very far. But still, I could easily have got ahold of some drugs if I'd wanted to.
