Rape past of London bomb victim

Garri Holness delivered a petition to Downing Street

London bombing victim Garri Holness has been dropped from turning on Christmas street lights after he was exposed as a convicted rapist.

He was one of seven men found guilty in 1985 of raping two 16-year-old girls in Brixton, south London.

Mr Holness, 38, who lost part of his leg on 7 July, was due to switch on the lights in Streatham, on Saturday.

A Lambeth Council spokesman decided he would be inappropriate after his convictions were revealed.

Mr Holness has been seen as the figurehead for a campaign to get more compensation for the victims of the London bombings.

In October, he joined other survivors and relatives of those killed in delivering a 10,000-signature petition to Downing Street demanding better pay outs.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed newspaper reports on Thursday which revealed Mr Holness, from Streatham, south London, had been convicted of the sexual assaults.

Mr Holness was known as Gary Linton when he took part in the attack on the teenagers on the Stockwell Park Estate in January 1985.

A Lambeth Council spokesman said: "Since the recent revelations about Gary Holness' criminal conviction, we think it is no longer appropriate for him to turn on the Streatham Christmas lights."

The switch-on will still go ahead with the Mayor of Lambeth, Daphne Marchant, doing the honours.