Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Dea-John Reid’s family plans to campaign for diverse juries

Dea-John Reid’s family plans to campaign for diverse juries

THE FAMILY of a schoolboy who was stabbed a year ago is planning to launch a campaign for making juries ethnically diverse.

Dea-John Reid, 14, was chased down by a “lynch mob” in Kingstanding, Birmingham where he was stabbed to death in May 2021.

Birmingham Crown Court on Friday (6) sentenced a 15-year-old boy, who was part of the group, to six years and six months in detention for manslaughter, but absolved him of murder. His co-defendants - George Khan, 39, of Newstead Road in Birmingham and Michael Shields, 36, of Alvis Walk, and two teenagers - were all cleared of murder. A sixth person, Hollie Davies, 36, of Waldon Walk in Birmingham was found not guilty of assisting the offender.

Reid’s family, however, thinks “justice has not been done” and that the mostly white jury did not reflect the ethnically diverse Birmingham community.

“Dea-John was a 14-year-old black boy who was chased by a lynch mob and knifed to death... We can’t allow that to happen. We need ethnically balanced juries in race cases,” his family’s representative, Right Rev Desmond Jaddoo, told The Times.

“Dea-John’s civil rights [were] completely abused. This system is not geared up to give black people justice.”

The laws in England provide for challenging an individual juror on the question of competence but there is no legal obligation to make juries racially diverse.

Reid’s mother Joan Morris, who sat through the trial thinking that justice would prevail, said she was “let down” by the system.

“This verdict of manslaughter, whilst the others are all found not guilty, just goes to prove to me that the life of my son, a young black man, did not matter.”

Following an altercation earlier, Reid was separated from his friends and stabbed by the 15-year-old who was armed with a large kitchen knife.

Despite being treated by paramedics, Reid was pronounced dead at the scene.

DNA evidence, CCTV footage, maps, witness testimony and a detailed reconstruction were used to secure the conviction.

The prosecution also relied on evidence from a bloodstained glove which was recovered near the scene and had both the convicted teenager’s DNA and Reid’s blood on it. A bloodied knife, which was also recovered with Reid’s blood on it, was also recovered with the glove.

CCTV recordings also showed Reid being chased with weapons being brandished visibly.

“I cannot begin to imagine the crippling sense of loss felt by Dea-John’s family and friends. The verdict of manslaughter will not undo the devastation felt by so many at the senseless loss of a young life. Such unnecessary violence has no place in our society and the death of Dea-John Reid should have never happened”, Seal said after the offender was convicted.

More For You

Ed-Miliband-India

Miliband said his meetings with Indian officials reinforced the commitment to work together in key areas, including grid modernisation, offshore wind, and industrial decarbonisation.

Exclusive: UK-India energy partnership strengthens as Miliband backs clean transition

BRITAIN sees India as a “crucial partner” as both countries aim to deepen their cooperation on clean energy, with a focus on renewables and climate action, UK secretary of state for energy security and net zero, Ed Miliband, said.

On a visit to India this week, Miliband highlighted India’s ambitious renewable energy targets and its commitment to achieving net zero by 2070.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bangladesh's former government accused of 'crimes against humanity'

Sheikh Hasina (Photo credit: Getty Images)

Bangladesh's former government accused of 'crimes against humanity'

BANGLADESH's former government was behind systematic attacks and killings of protesters as it strived to hold onto power last year, the UN said Wednesday (12), warning the abuses could amount to "crimes against humanity".

Before premier Sheikh Hasina was toppled in a student-led revolution last August, her government oversaw a systematic crackdown on protesters and others, including "hundreds of extrajudicial killings", the UN said.

Keep ReadingShow less
modi-ai-summit-getty

Modi stressed the importance of open-source AI ecosystems and quality data sets free from biases. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

Modi calls for global AI framework, India to host next AI summit

INDIA will host the next international summit on artificial intelligence, following its co-hosting of the AI Action Summit in Paris with France.

The announcement was made by French president Emmanuel Macron’s office after prime minister Narendra Modi expressed India’s willingness to host the event.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ed-Miliband

Miliband’s Delhi visit this week is aimed at increasing UK clean energy investment opportunities and placing British businesses at the forefront of the global race for renewables.

Miliband pushes clean energy ties in India

SECRETARY of state for energy security and net zero, Ed Miliband, arrived in New Delhi on Monday (10) for the fourth UK-India Energy Dialogue and to promote UK business interests at the India Energy Week global exhibition.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said the aim of the visit is to unlock economic growth from clean energy transition, support new jobs, create export opportunities and tackle the climate crisis in partnership with India.

Keep ReadingShow less
Salman Rushdie

Rushdie was stabbed about 15 times: in the head, neck, torso and left hand, blinding his right eye and damaging his liver and intestines. (Photo: Getty Images)

Rushdie attack trial begins as jurors shown graphic details

JURORS heard how a knife attack on novelist Salman Rushdie unfolded in a matter of seconds at a 2022 New York talk and how close he came to death, in the prosecutor's opening statement on Monday (10) at the trial of the man accused of trying to murder the author.

A poet introducing the talk, on the subject of keeping writers safe from harm, was barely into his second sentence when defendant Hadi Matar bounded onto the Chautauqua Institution open-air stage and made about 10 running steps towards a seated Rushdie, Chautauqua District Attorney Jason Schmidt told the jury.

Keep ReadingShow less