18-year-old guilty of homophobic killing

A former public school girl who subjected a 62-year-old man to homophobic abuse before fatally assaulting him has been convicted of manslaughter at the Old Bailey. Ruby Thomas, 18, from Anerly in southeast London, was convicted of the attack on civil servant Ian Baynham alongside 20-year-old Joel Alexander, of Thornton heath, southeast London.  A third …

A former public school girl who subjected a 62-year-old man to homophobic abuse before fatally assaulting him has been convicted of manslaughter at the Old Bailey. Ruby Thomas, 18, from Anerly in southeast London, was convicted of the attack on civil servant Ian Baynham alongside 20-year-old Joel Alexander, of Thornton heath, southeast London.  A third defendant, 18-year-old Rachael Burke, of Upper Norwood, southeast London, was found guilty of affray at an earlier trial but cleared of manslaughter.

The court heard Thomas smiled as she ‘put the boot into’ Mr Baynham after he was knocked to the ground by Alexander. The attack took place outside South Africa House in Trafalgar Square on September 2009. Mr Baynham died 18 days later.

Brian Altman QC, prosecuting, said the girls were ‘fuelled by copious amounts of alcohol’ and one witness likened the attack to a scene from the film A Clockwork Orange. ‘Shocked onlookers saw repeated stamping to his chest and forceful kicks to his head,’ said Mr Altman.

All three attackers will be sentenced in the new year.