Pensioner’s death ‘was forced upon him by three girls’, daughter says

The daughter of a 75-year-old man who was killed by three teenagers in a street attack said it was not his time to die and his “death was forced upon him by three girls”.

Fredi Rivero was set upon in Islington, north London, on February 27 and died in hospital the next day.

The victim, a Bolivian national, was near a bus stop on Seven Sisters Road when the teenagers got off a bus and surrounded him.

The youths, who at the time were 14, 16 and 17, and are now 15, 17 and 17, pushed, shoved, kicked and punched him, with one of them filming the incident on her phone.

As part of the police investigation, officers recovered CCTV footage of the assault in which one of the girls was seen to punch the victim in the head, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the pavement.

Louise Oakley, prosecuting, said the Crown’s case is “this is unprovoked violence by three young girls”.

CCTV was played to the court, which showed the girls getting off a bus, then during an initial interaction Mr Rivero made a peace sign, they walked away then went back to him.

Mobile phone footage was also played to the court which showed one of the girls pulling his glasses off his face, then one punches him and he falls backwards.

The daughter of Mr Rivero, Carla Rivero, gave a victim impact statement at the Old Bailey on Friday in which she described him as “kind, polite and gentle”.

She said: “He was the nicest person you could ever meet, so kind, never bothered anyone.

Ms Rivero said her father will “forever live in my heart”.

She said it leaves her “questioning what type of generation of youths is being raised as a result of all this”.

Ms Rivero said: “It wasn’t my dad’s time to die. His death was forced upon him by three girls.

“They demonstrated no consideration or respect for an elderly person. He was an ill elderly person who would never hurt anyone.”

Ms Rivero said her mother “feels heartbroken and devastated and she cries every day” and “feels scared when she sees youths in the street”.

She said: “My dad will be remembered and honoured for the kind and peaceful person he was, not in the manner of which his life was taken.”

Police were called at 11.25pm to reports of the disturbance and found Mr Rivero unconscious on the pavement with a severe head injury and in cardiac arrest.

He was taken to the Royal London Hospital and initial investigations revealed he had suffered a traumatic brain injury, Ms Oakley said. Mr Rivero later died.

The girls, who cannot be identified because of their ages, previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The sentencing continues.