Mother who hid clothes of riot killer son is jailed
DID TWITTER PREDICT THE UNREST?
A MOTHER who tried to cover up for her son after he killed a pensioner in last summer’s riots was jailed yesterday.
Lavinia Desuze, 31, destroyed her son Darrell’s clothes after spotting him in television footage of the looting and vandalism that spread throughout London.
Although she knew that the 17-yearold had killed a man and that police had arrested the wrong person, Desuze callously cut up his clothes and dumped them in a bin to protect him.
Yesterday, Desuze, of Hounslow, West London, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for perverting the course of justice while Darrell, who lived with her, was jailed for eight years for the manslaughter of Richard Mannington Bowes on August 8 last year.
Outside court yesterday, Anne Wilderspin, Mr Bowes’s sister, said Darrell had committed a ‘terrible crime’.
But she added: ‘I was completely devastated. I feel compassion for this youngster, who was only 16 at the time.
‘He has potentially ruined his life, or any decent chance of making an honest living in the future. I have forgiven him, and being a Christian, I pray to Lord Jesus that he will turn over a new leaf.’
During the trial, prosecutor Brian Altman QC told the court how Desuze knew her son had been responsible for Mr Bowes’s death. He added: ‘Unlike
‘Others turned in their own children’
others who turned in their own children, horrified at what they had seen them do, she sought to prevent him from facing the justice he deserved.’
Mr Justice John Saunders said of Desuze, who gave birth to Darrell at 14 and raised him as a single mother: ‘I accept the instinct of a mother to protect her child is a very powerful one.
‘If she had felt able to admit what she had done, it would have made it easier to be lenient. Instead she continued to deny committing any offence and, on the verdict of the jury, lied on oath.’
The court also heard how 6ft Darrell had ‘ played a full part in the violence’ as disorder swept the country last summer. He was seen on CCTV smashing windows, looting shops, throwing missiles at police and wheeling rubbish bins into the street to be set on fire. The teenager attacked Mr Bowes as the 68-year-old ventured outside his home in Ealing, West London, to put out one of those fires.
Mr Bowes, a former accountant, suffered brain damage hitting his head on the pavement after being punched by Darrell. He died three days later.
Mr Justice Saunders said at Inner London Crown Court yesterday that he had taken into account the teen’s guilty pleas to burglary and violent disorder. LAST summer’s riots could have been predicted on Twitter, a study shows.
An analysis of words used in 484million tweets made by 9.8million users of the social networking site in 54 cities from July 2009 revealed a rise in anger ahead of the August riots.
Although it is known Twitter was used to organise the violence, the Bristol And he described Darrell, then aged 16, as a ‘willing participant’ in the riots who was recorded looting shops even after he had killed Mr Bowes.
Mr Justice Saunders said: ‘ I do consider that it is a significant aggravating factor that, having rendered his victim unconscious and realising that he had done him serious harm, he then went on to... loot four shops. University study is the first to show how such sites provide a mirror to the nation’s mood.
Nello Cristianini, a professor of artificial intelligence, stressed however that he did not forecast the riots. Rather, by looking back at the messages, he was able to make the connection between tweets and the unrest. The death of Mr Bowes was pointless and unnecessary and it became for the public one of the most, if not the most, shocking event of the riots in London.’
Nicholas Valios, defending, insisted that Darrell had felt remorse for his actions: ‘Despite his conduct he did not intend to cause Mr Bowes any serious injury, let alone his death.’