Four teenagers convicted of killing 16-year-old in rival group

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Four teenagers have been convicted of killing a 16-year-old boy during a dispute between rival groups.

Ramarni Crosby was stabbed to death after being confronted by youths armed with a machete, meat cleaver and knives in Gloucester in December 2021.

CCTV footage taken from properties in the Barton area of the city showed Ramarni and his four friends running away, then the teenager slowing and collapsing in Stratton Road where he died a short time later.

After a two-month trial, Levi Cameron, 18, and two 16-year-old boys were convicted of Ramarni’s manslaughter by majority verdicts. A fourth defendant, Callum Charles-Quebella, 18, had previously admitted manslaughter.

They were all acquitted of murder by a jury at Bristol Crown Court.

Four other defendants, Dean Smith, 20, and three 17-year-olds were all found not guilty of murder and manslaughter.

A ninth defendant, Keishaleigh Margrett-Whitter, 20, was acquitted of two charges of assisting an offender.

As the verdicts were returned, members of the public sat in court were visibly upset, while some of the defendants burst into tears.

During the trial, the court heard that the buildup and aftermath of the attack had been captured on CCTV cameras from nearby houses, but not the stabbing itself.

Adam Vaitilingam KC, prosecuting, previously told the jury: “The background to the stabbing was an ongoing rivalry between two Gloucester groups.

“In particular, there was a fight that had taken place about a week earlier involving one of these defendants and one of Ramarni’s friends.

“That fight hadn’t settled anything – there were still grievances bubbling away between them and more violence was very much on the cards.

“On the day of the killing, the two who had had the fight were in contact with each other again, in contact by phone, and arranging to meet in Gloucester.”

The court heard the defendants were part of a gang called GL1 and would wear purple bandanas as a sign of membership.

After the fatal attack, Cameron and the two 16-year-olds fled the scene and got a taxi to a nearby house, where CCTV cameras showed them acting out the incident – with their arms held up and moving downwards in stabbing motions.

They then “celebrated” the teenager’s death after being told he had died.

Ramarni, from Frampton-on-Severn, Gloucestershire, suffered several stab wounds to his back and a stab injury to his skull.

Trial judge Mrs Justice Cutts said she would sentence the four defendants on July 27 and remanded them into custody.

“I would want reports for all defendants,” she said.

“One of the matters I wished to be covered is the issue of dangerousness.”

After the verdicts, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Almond, who led the investigation, said: “The killing of Ramarni Crosby in December 2021 has had a deep impact on his family and on Gloucester itself which no words can ever heal.

“Ramarni was a young man with much to look forward to in his life which has now been taken away.

“My thoughts remain with his family, friends and all those in the community who continue to feel the pain of Ramarni’s death.”

Superintendent Carl Bourne, the local policing commander for Gloucester and Forest of Dean, said: “Ramarni’s death has had a profound effect on the community, the investigation team who worked tirelessly to gather the evidence and all our officers and staff who live or work in Gloucester.

“We understand that this will be an emotional time for people in the local community and we as police will remain accessible to provide any support that we are able to.”

Andy Pritchard, from the CPS South West Complex Casework Unit, said: “The case involved analysis of a number of sources of evidence, including phone messages and CCTV, which were key in building the case.

“This showed the defendants planning a fight with a rival group, revealed that they knew some of their own group would be carrying weapons, and tracked their arrival at the scene of the fatal attack, and then away from it.

“This is another tragic case which highlights the terrible impact of young people carrying knives.”