Bridge murder gang 'could get life'

The men were thrown over the side of Hungerford Bridge

Members of a street gang convicted of murdering a law student after throwing him off a London bridge have been told by a judge they could face life sentences.

The perpetrators of this crime have mindlessly killed our only child

Sam Baxter

Timothy Baxter, 24, and his friend Gabriel Cornish were beaten unconscious and hurled 40ft into the water in the middle of the night after three of the six-strong gang tried to rob them.

Mr Cornish, 25, was rescued but Mr Baxter, described as "a son to be proud of", did not regain consciousness and drowned.

Victim Timothy Baxter: A son to be proud of

The six - some only 14 and 16 at the time of the killing - wept as an Old Bailey jury delivered guilty verdicts on charges of murder and attempted murder.

Judge Ann Goddard remanded the gang in custody to 19 May to consider reports and warned they face life sentences.

Nigel Sweeney, prosecuting, said the gang members were all either homeless or spent their time socialising with people sleeping rough in Leicester Square, central London.

Sonni Reid, 20, John Riches, 22, Cyrus Cameron, 18, all of no fixed address, south London juveniles now aged 17 and 15 and a girl of 16 had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Baxter and the attempted murder of Mr Cornish.

Reid and Riches were also found guilty of attempting to rob the students and stealing a wallet and assaulting another man, Matthew Reynolds, 22, as he watched the sunrise at the Embankment that day.

The 17-year-old admitted attempted robbery and theft.

The defendants gave six different versions of what happened on the bridge in the early hours of 18 June last year.

Caught on camera

Mr Sweeney said the two older men and the 17-year-old had tried to rob the students as they walked home across Hungerford Bridge after a night out in London's West End.

Mr Cornish, who spent two weeks in hospital after being pulled from the Thames by police, told the court how the other gang members joined in the attack after he appealed to them for help.

Mr Cornish said: "I said 'help us'. They didn't say anything at all.

"Someone hit me over the head. I fell. I remember being kicked in the mouth, the nose and the back and the back of the head. I passed out."

Mr Sweeney told the court that one of the group had called out that it would be "fun" to throw the students off after they were lifted over the four-foot railings on the walkway of the railway bridge and left to die.

He said: "None of them did a thing to help the two men in the water."

The group of five males and the 16-year-old girl had walked off the bridge, shielding their faces from security cameras.

They were later picked up by security cameras laughing and smiling at Waterloo Station.

'Appalling crime'

After the verdict Detective Chief Inspector Dave Shipperlee said: "It was an appalling crime."

He paid tribute to consultant psychiatrist Sam Baxter and his wife Linda who had sat through the disturbing evidence in the 10-week trial.

"It has been a traumatic time but they have conducted themselves with great dignity," he said.

Outside court, Mr Baxter said: "The perpetrators of this crime have mindlessly killed our only child."