Dea-John Reid: Teenager who stabbed boy, 14, to death after he was ‘hunted by lynch mob’ is detained
Judge at Birmingham Crown Court rejects application to lift order protecting identity of boy, who is told he will serve half his sentence in custody
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A 15-year-old boy who stabbed another teenager to death in a “revenge” attack has been sentenced to a six-and-a-half-year term of detention for manslaughter.
Dea-John Reid, 14, died from a single stab wound after being racially abused in the Kingstanding area of Birmingham in May last year.
In a victim impact statement read to the court on Friday, Dea-John’s mother, Joan Morris, said her “handsome” son, a would-be footballer and dentist who was unarmed, had been “hunted by a lynch mob reminiscent of a scene from Mississippi Burning”.
CCTV footage of the killing was seen by jurors, who heard Dea-John was attacked in “revenge” following an earlier altercation in a park.
The youth defendant, who cannot be named because of his age, was cleared of murder but convicted of his manslaughter in March.
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A judge at Birmingham Crown Court rejected an application to lift an order protecting the identity of the boy, who was told he will serve half his sentence in custody.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Johnson told the 15-year-old, who wore gloves and a balaclava to carry out the killing: “The CCTV shows that there was a concerted chase of Dea-John, which was led by you and which involved four others.
“If an adult did what you did then that would almost certainly be murder and they would be sentenced to life imprisonment.”
Four other defendants - George Khan, 39, Michael Shields, 36, and two youths aged 15 and 16 - were previously acquitted of murder charges, which they all denied.
Jurors also acquitted Hollie Davies, 36, of Waldon Walk, Birmingham, of assisting an offender by attempting to frustrate the inquiry into the killing.
In her victim impact statement, read to the court by family friend Bishop Desmond Jaddoo, Dea-John’s mother said her son was stabbed after the killer deliberately picked up a kitchen knife, placed it down his tracksuit trousers, and then chased Dea-John with the blade raised in the air in front of witnesses while wearing a balaclava.
After sitting through the trial and having to watch the last moments of her son’s life on CCTV footage, Ms Morris said the verdict of manslaughter and the acquittal of the four other defendants had added insult to injury.
She said: “This verdict of manslaughter, whilst the others are all found not guilty, just goes to prove to me that the life of Dea-John Reid, my son, a young black man, didn’t matter.
“This only highlights the ongoing question: ‘Do black lives really matter?
”As far as I am concerned many will say that this young man has been held accountable for killing my son, however I do wonder if the roles were reversed, what the verdict may well have been?
”I do believe that a system that I decided to trust has completely let me, my family, my community, including the friends of Dea-John, down.”
In tributes paid to Dea-John after his death, his family said: “This loss not only affects us but everyone Dea-John knew. We have lost a son, his siblings have lost a brother, and others have lost a friend.
“The passing of this incredibly talented young boy will be felt by us all. How many more mothers will have to mourn for their sons for this to stop?”
Additional reporting by Press Association