Brothers convicted of killing Damilola

Rickie and Danny Preddie

LONDON - The killers of Damilola Taylor have finally been convicted, more than five years after the 10-year-old was stabbed to death in a run-down south London estate.

But investigators came under strong criticism after it emerged forensic scientists had missed crucial, and seemingly obvious evidence, obtained within days of the killing. The Home Office has set up an inquiry.

The brothers, Danny and Rickie Preddie, aged 18 and 19, from Peckham, south London, were convicted on Wednesday of the manslaughter of Damilola, who bled to death after being stabbed in the leg with a broken bottle in November 2000, at a retrial at the Old Bailey.

The pair, who were 12 and 13 at the time of the attack, are yet to be sentenced but face life terms in prison.

Scotland Yard devoted huge resources to the hunt for his killers, but an attempted prosecution of four youths in 2002 ended in failure when the police's star witness was condemned as a liar and the case collapsed.

The investigation looked hopeless until a fresh inquiry uncovered new forensic evidence.

The results, which came to the police in March 2004, were "startling" - they discovered blood spots and fibres implicating the two brothers.

One of the spots of blood found on the heel of a pair of Danny's training shoes was large enough to be visible with a naked eye, yet it was not tested. A smaller spot of blood was also found on a sweatshirt in Ricky's room.

There were a number of fibres on clothing but it emerged that the first lab would not have routinely checked for these unless requested to by a senior police officer.

- INDEPENDENT