UK: Four teenage boys have denied murdering 10-year-old schoolboy, Damilola Taylor, at the Old Bailey on the opening day of legal argument ahead of their trial.
The boys - one is 14-years-old and the others are 16 years-old - who cannot be identified because of their age, also denied a charge of assault with intent to rob and a third charge of manslaughter.
Damilola's father, Mr Richard Taylor, sat in Court 12 as the charges were read out. The jury is expected to be sworn in next Tuesday and the trial is likely to last up to three months.
The death of Damilola Taylor, who bled to death on a first-floor stairwell of the North Peckham estate in London after he was stabbed in the leg on November 27th 2000, shocked the public and after one of the largest investigations by the Metropolitan Police the boys were arrested last year.
The schoolboy had arrived from his native Nigeria for the chance of a better education and life in England only four months previously and had already been singled out by teachers at his school as an intelligent student.
New court procedures have been introduced after the European Court of Human Rights criticised Britain for holding the trial of James Bulger's 10-year-old killers in an adult court. The changes have been made to avoid exposing the boys to stress and intimidation.
The teenagers will be allowed to sit with their legal representatives and parents or guardians instead of in the dock. The court proceedings will be shortened to reflect the length of the school day and the trial judge, Mr Justice Hooper, and the lawyers will not wear the traditional wigs or gowns. A media annexe has been established with a live link to another courtroom.