Damilola boys get new life in country

The teenage brothers acquitted of the murder of Damilola Taylor have moved from Peckham to a picturesque country village.

Two weeks after they walked free from the Old Bailey, they have left the crime-ridden estates of sxouth London for more amenable surroundings. The pair - both 16 - have been seen riding mountain bikes and sharpening their soccer skills. They play with local youngsters and enjoy total anonymity.

One villager said: "They look like they have been told to keep their heads down but they seem to be really comfortable, relaxed and at home.

"Most of the time they appear to be just dossing about in the house, keeping a low profile and keeping out of trouble. They come out in the street, play football and ride bikes. It looks as if they are having a great time - and they really don't appear to have a care in the world."

The pair, known as Boy A and Boy B, led a gang of school dropouts which roamed south-east London. They would steal cash and mobile phones and children were favourite prey. At 14, both boys were accused of a sex attack on two girls aged 10 and 12 but the case was thrown out by a judge at the Old Bailey.

Their record led Detective Superintendent Trevor Shepherd, who headed the hunt for Damilola's killers, to liken them to old-style gangland bosses like the Krays. "If you double the boys ages you have something resembling an East End crime syndicate of the Sixties," he said. Damilola's parents are taking legal advice on the possibility of a civil action against the boys. The victim's mother Gloria, 50, also criticised their behaviour in court. "The way they behaved in the initial stages of the trial was shocking," she said. "I feel sure they knew we were Damilola's parents yet they were laughing at us as if they were taunting us and the memory of our son."

The two brothers were accused of leading a gang ambush on Damilola as he walked home following after-school computer studies at Peckham library in November 2000. He wore a distinctive silver jacket and the Crown suggested the gang had either intended to steal it or planned to search him for a mobile phone - which he did not carry - and stabbed him with a broken bottle when he refused to hand them over.

Fatally wounded, Damilola staggered 30 yards along Blakes Road and up three flights of stairs in a block of flats, desperately trying to reach home. Despite the efforts of police and paramedics, he bled to death. Doctors later found a marble in his mouth, allegedly placed there by the gang to stop him screaming.

The decision to move the boys away from Peckham is a relief for residents and for school children, many of whom voiced fears for their safety after they were acquitted. Their mother initially indicated that they would stay in Peckham, saying: "I am just glad to have my sons back on the estate. I've always known they were innocent."