rivalry between two gangs, Shanks and Guns, or SG, and the Black Mafia, also known as the Sydenham Boys.

schoolboy is dead and three teenagers are now facing the prospect of life imprisonment, after what could be yet another tragic case of gang rivalry.

An Old Bailey jury yesterday (March 10) found two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old guilty of the murder of Nicholas Pearton.

Another 16-year-old was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter, while a 14-year-old boy and another 16-year-old boy were acquitted.

Nicholas was stabbed to death on May 5 last year after being chased through Home Park Recreation Ground in Sydenham.



Jurors were told the killing may have been sparked by a rivalry between two gangs, Shanks and Guns, or SG, and the Black Mafia, also known as the Sydenham Boys.

The court heard Nicholas had been with his friends when he received a phone call and then left to go to the park saying “I have to help them” and “SG are there”.

But when he got to the park, his friends, who were members of the Black Mafia, had disappeared and he was left on his own.

Edward Brown, prosecuting, said: “What happened thereafter, as described by one witness who saw the defendants as they ran Nicholas Pearton to the ground and killed him, was a group of men acting 'like animals'.

"An accurate description in the circumstances.”

The court heard that after being stabbed, Nicholas staggered into the MM chicken shop and shut the door behind him.

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