Lone boy cried out, Damilola jury told

A teenager today told the Old Bailey how he saw a small black boy cry out in pain and drop a broken bottle at the time and place where Damilola Taylor was fatally injured.

The 18-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he saw the boy, who was aged about ten, scream "Ow!", drop the glass and run away.

The boy disappeared out of sight, having run in the direction of the block of flats where Damilola, 10, was later discovered bleeding to death in a stairwell.

The Crown has claimed that Damilola was stabbed with a broken beer bottle by a gang of older boys between 4.30 and 4.45pm in Blakes Road, Peckham, in November 2000. But defence counsel Courtney Griffiths QC yesterday said an expert believed Damilola's leg wound could have been caused accidentally.

Today the 18-year-old told the jury that he had left his home in Blakes Road with a friend at about 4.45pm. He said: "I saw a boy smash a bottle by the lamppost. I turned to look at him and he was young, aged about eight to 10, he was black, short, of average build and was wearing dark blue clothing. He then picked up a piece of glass. My friend shouted at him and he got scared. He shouted something like 'Ow!' in shock and ran off. At that time I didn't see any other boys or anybody else in the area. He ran off and I think he turned the corner. When my friend had shouted the boy went: 'Aah,' looked round, dropped the glass and ran off as if he was in trouble."

Asked if he recognised the boy, the teenager replied that at first he did not appear familiar although he was a "regular" on the North Peckham Estate. He added: "I saw his (Damilola's) face on the TV and his photos in the press and I suspect it could have been him."

The teenager said he made a statement to the police three days after the incident. Two months later police asked him to look through his statement to check if it was correct.

They also showed him a photograph of the silver-coloured Puffa jacket Damilola was wearing when he was fatally injured.

"I said I could not be certain if the boy I had seen had been wearing the jacket," he said.

But under cross-examination by Mark Dennis, prosecuting, the teenager admitted that he had originally told police the boy he had seen was darker than Damilola and he was "confident" he had not been wearing the silver jacket. Even though it was dark he felt sure he would have seen the jacket because the boy had been standing under a street light. He admitted that today was the first time he had suggested the boy could have been Damilola.

Mr Dennis said: "The boy was plainly not Damilola but another young boy, a black youth in dark clothing."

The teenager replied: "It may have been, I could not be certain, it could have been Damilola, I'm not too sure if it was him."

Mr Dennis said: "But that is the first time you have said that, eighteen months afterwards. I'm afraid that today you have added the element of doubt that was not there before. Is that simply because of the passage of time?"

He replied: "Yes."

Two sixteen-year-old brothers known as Boy A and Boy B have pleaded not guilty to murdering Damilola and also deny further charges of manslaughter and assault with the intention to rob. A 15-year-old and a 17-year-old boy have been cleared of all charges on the direction of the judge.

The case continues.