Member of acid rape gang killed before trial

A MEMBER of the gang which raped a 16-year-old girl and then poured caustic soda over her was fatally stabbed in Oxford Street before he could face justice, it can be revealed today.

Police say Steven Bigby, 22, would have been convicted with three other gang members at Wood Green crown court this week had he not been killed.

Bigby was stabbed outside a McDonald's last summer in a fight that was unconnected to the sex attack. Anthony Costa, 18, was convicted of Bigby's manslaughter at the Old Bailey last month.

An order preventing Bigby's identification was imposed during the trial but was lifted by Old Bailey judge Richard Hawkins today.

The girl who was raped at an abandoned house in Antill Road, Tottenham, on 9 January had a mental age of eight and was left with 55 per cent burns from the 98 per cent strength caustic soda.

Detective Constable Alexandra Newton, of the Met police unit which investigated the rape, said: "Bigby definitely would have been found guilty. His DNA was all over a towel in the bathroom."

Rogel McMorris, 18, of Stockwell, was convicted of two counts of rape and GBH. Jason Brew, 19, of Tottenham, and Hector Muaimba, 20, of Walthamstow, were each convicted of one count of rape. Sentencing is next month.