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Teenager jailed for killing gay man

John-Paul Ford Rojas
Wednesday 26 January 2011 20:00 EST

A former public schoolgirl who kicked and stamped on a gay civil servant during a deadly homophobic attack has been jailed for seven years for his manslaughter.

Ruby Thomas, 19, hurled obscene abuse at 62-year-old Ian Baynham during the drink-fuelled assault in London's Trafalgar Square in September 2009. He died 18 days later. Police found his blood on Thomas's handbag and ballet pumps.

The Old Bailey heard how she screamed "fucking faggots", and smiled as she "put the boot into" Mr Baynham after he was knocked to the ground by another teenager, Joel Alexander, from Thornton Heath, south London. Thomas, of Crystal Palace, was convicted of manslaughter, along with Alexander, last month.

Alexander was jailed for six years, while 18-year-old Rachael Burke, of Upper Norwood, south-east London, was given a two-year sentence for affray at an earlier trial. Judge Richard Hawkins increased Thomas's sentence from six to seven years because the attack was homophobic.

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