Girls locked up for killing ‘vulnerable’ man, 75, in unprovoked street attack

Three teenage girls have been detained for killing a “particularly vulnerable” 75-year-old man in an “unprovoked” street attack filmed on a mobile phone.

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.

CCTV was played to the court, which showed the girls getting off a bus – one with a bottle of vodka, then during an initial interaction Mr Rivero made a peace sign, they walked away and 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 punching him and him falling backwards.

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

Describing the footage, Ms Oakley said Mr Rivero’s glasses were pulled off his face, but he managed to retrieve them, before he was “surrounded by all three of them”.

Mr Rivero was pushed and attempted to push one of the girls away from him, one kicked him, then he was “continuously trying to get away from them and they continue to follow him”.

The youngest defendant was handed the mobile and continued filming, then the oldest defendant “advances towards Fredi Rivero and punches him in the face, causing him at that point to fall back to the ground,” Ms Oakley said.

The oldest girl threw the fatal punch, the prosecution said.

The victim was “particularly vulnerable by virtue of his age and his ill health”, Ms Oakley said.

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.

In a separate case, the 15-year-old girl was sentenced to a referral order for attempted wounding in December last year, the prosecution said.

The attempted wounding involved her and other girls assaulting a homeless woman on the street and footage was recorded, Ms Oakley said.

Judge Judy Khan KC said: “You can all be heard shouting at Mr Rivero as he desperately tried to get away from you.

“He told you more than once that he wanted to go home but you ignored his pleas.”

The judge also said there were several videos of violent incidents found on one of the girl’s phones, adding they were not as serious as the attack on Mr Rivero, but present “a pattern of unacceptable violence”.

She said all three girls have been through “extremely traumatic events” during childhood and adolescence.

The judge added: “This was a cruel attack on an elderly man who was completely defenceless and you showed him no mercy.”

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”.

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.”

Two of the defendants are sisters.

When the two younger girls were detained by police, the older sister said: “I promise you, my sister did nothing wrong.”

She also said it was the third defendant who “pushed him” and said: “My New Year’s resolution was not to get arrested this year, its already done, its not even f****** March.”

She added: “I’m going to pray for him because he doesn’t deserve to die.”

When the younger sister was detained, she said: “It wasn’t me, I promise.”

And when the oldest girl was arrested, she said: “I was just helping my friends, he was pushing me, and I punched him, is he alive?”

The oldest girl has no previous convictions and the younger 17-year-old girl has previously been convicted of three assaults on an emergency worker and racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress.

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

Marie Spenwyn, defending the older 17-year-old, said she “doesn’t appear to try to make excuses” and she has been “starting to try to grapple with the consequences”.

The younger 17-year-old stood in court and read a letter in which she said: “I know I can’t change what happened but I wanted to write this to let you know how sorry I am.”

She added that she was “embarrassed to see the videos of me that have been shown”.

Sophie Shotton, defending the 15-year-old, said she recognises Mr Rivero was a “totally innocent man” and she “expresses how sorry she is and takes full responsibility for the part she played in his death”.

The judge sentenced the oldest girl to four years’ detention; the younger 17-year-old to three-and-a-half years’ detention; and the 15-year-old girl to two-and-a-half years’ detention.

Detective Inspector Devan Taylor, who led the Met’s investigation, said: “This was a completely unprovoked attack by three teenage girls, on an elderly man who was just going about his day.

“The fact they filmed the attack and found it funny is even more sickening.

“I’d like to thank the members of the public who assisted in our investigation and provided first aid to Fredi.

“Their witness statements were also crucial in helping us arrest the girls within hours.”