One is heard to say to another: 'You're the new young boss.'
Just half an hour earlier they had been among a vicious gang who hunted down a schoolboy 'like a pack of wild dogs' before knifing him to death.
Triumphant: Lamarr Gordon and Dale Green shake hands on a bus after the stabbing of Nicholas Pearton, with Gordon heard to call Green 'the new young boss'
© PASauntering off: Dale Green casually looks back at the murder scene after fleeing following the stabbing of Nicholas Pearton
© PAVictim: Nicolas Pearton was killed in South London after being chased by seven gang members across a park before being stabbed in a shop door
The teenager was pursued across a suburban park by his attackers, many of whom were still in their school uniform, before he was stabbed through the heart and collapsed in a shop doorway in front of his mother, Kim.
As the gang fled, they waved their knives in the air and shouted the name of the gang 'triumphantly'.
The still from bus CCTV footage shows two gang members, then aged just 16, celebrating. Dale Green, who minutes earlier plunged a kitchen knife into Nicholas's back, can be seen clasping hands with gang leader Lamarr Gordon in a 'sickening gesture of approval and congratulation'.
Gordon - known as 'Lamarr the scar' because he had a scar from 23 stitches in his face - was heard to praise Green's knifing, telling him: 'You're the new young boss'.
Another member Joseph Appiah, then 15, carried out a head count to make sure none of the gang - known as Shanks and Guns (shanks being slang for knives) - had been arrested after the attack in Sydenham, South London, in May last year. Other gang members had abandoned an armoury of weapons including knives and wooden poles in the park.
Killers: Lamarr Gordon, left, and Dale Green both received life sentences for the stabbing, with Gordon's tariff being a minimum 14 years and Green's 15 years
Jailed: Joseph Appiah, left, also received a life sentence, while Terell Clement was locked up for ten years after being found guilty of manslaughter
Yesterday the victim's father Vince Pearton, 43, and mother Kim Whoolley, told of how their family had been torn apart by the death of their son. Lucy Kennedy, prosecuting, read an emotionally-charged statement from the parents.
Eight years: Claude Gaha and Demar Brown both received the sentence for their involvement in the killing
Locked up: Edward Conteh was given a seven-year term by the judge
The gang were all from South London and aged between 15 and 17 at the time of the attack. They were unmasked yesterday as judge Anthony Morris lifted a ban on reporting their names.
Passing sentence, the judge said the gang was responsible for the 'senseless and tragic loss of a young life'.
'This case involved gratuitous violence in public places, which seriously discourages law-abiding citizens from walking the streets,' he said. 'The group was like a pack of wild dogs hunting down its prey.
'This was a particularly cowardly attack, as all the defendants knew he was alone and unarmed.'
Green, 17, of Catford, Gordon, 17, of Bromley, and Appiah, 16, described as a talented athlete of Lewisham, had denied murder but were convicted. They were all sentenced to life with Green jailed for a minimum 15 years, Gordon 14 years and Appiah 12 years.
Four others, Terell Clement, 18, of Deptford, Claude Gaha, 17, of Bromley, Edward Conteh, of Peckham, and Demar Brown, 16, of Hither Green, were jailed for a total of 33 years after being convicted of manslaughter.
© Robin BellDignity: The judge in the murder case praises the conduct of Nicholas's family throughout the case
Reader Comments
Aren't they all manipulative rags?
A good musician will learn from a bad record with a great guitar solo, just as he/she will learn from a great record with a bad guitar solo. It's known as 'separating the fine from the course'.
The problem with news coverage of crime is that it never answers the most important questions about what happened. On top of all that, this coverage appears to have clear racial motivations.
No one goes to the trouble of killing someone else, especially by hand, unless there is someone involved who was insane. That person acts as a "third party" to egg on the others involved to do something violent. And here is a prefect case where it would be really helpful to know who that was. Because the result of their efforts was one kid killed and seven more in trouble for the rest of their lives. That's eight lives ruined, not counting all the relatives, by the efforts of probably a single psychopath. And that's what this society really needs to fix.
Sorry for the typing mistake in my title!