LONDON: An 18-year-old girl was facing jail on Thursday after being found guilty of a homophobic attack which one witness described as being like something out of the film “A Clockwork Orange”.
Former public schoolgirl Ruby Thomas was convicted of the manslaughter of 62-year-old Ian Baynham, who died 18 days after the drink-fuelled assault in London’s Trafalgar Square.
The court heard she smiled as she “put the boot into” Baynham after he was knocked to the ground by another teenager, the Press Association reported.
On the night Baynham was attacked in September last year Thomas was said to have been “off her face” on drink, being loud and flirting with random men.
The Old Bailey court heard she screamed “fucking faggots” at the victim and his friend Philip Brown. When Baynham confronted her, there was a scuffle during which she hit him with her handbag and he grabbed it.
The other teenager, Joel Alexander then ran up and knocked him to the ground, causing a severe brain injury as his head struck the pavement.
A third defendant, 18-year-old Rachael Burke, who was found guilty of affray at an earlier trial, joined in the attack.
Prosecutor Brian Altman said: “There is evidence that the female defendants then began putting the boot into Mr Baynham, who was still prone on his back, clearly unconscious and in distress.”
He said the girls were “fuelled by copious amounts of alcohol” and one witness likened the attack to a scene from the film A Clockwork Orange.
“Shocked onlookers saw repeated stamping to his chest and forceful kicks to his head,” said Altman.
Thomas looked distraught as the verdicts were returned and put her head in her hands. Both she and Alexander, 20, who was also convicted of manslaughter, will be sentenced in the New Year.
