Accused cleared of murder attempt

A man accused of killing Sheffield teenager Jonathan Matondo has been cleared of a separate charge of attempted murder at a Crown Court.

Jonathan Matondo, 16, was "targeted and ruthlessly killed" as two rival gangs clashed on the streets of Sheffield, the city's crown court was told.

Negus Nelson, 19 of Margate Drive, Sheffield, denies his murder.

Mr Nelson was cleared of trying to kill Jonathan Matondo in a separate incident on the day the 16-year-old died.

Jurors considered the evidence for more than 11 hours before deciding Mr Nelson was not guilty of attempting to murder Mr Matondo during a shooting incident alleged to have taken place hours before Mr Matondo actually died.

The trial was told Mr Matondo died in the Pitsmoor area of Sheffield on 17 October when he was shot in the head in Nottingham Cliff park.

City gangs

Prosecutors told the jury how Mr Matondo was targeted during a clash between two rival gangs called S3 and S4, mirroring postcode in the South Yorkshire city.

The prosecution team said Mr Nelson was part of the S4 gang which gunned down Mr Matondo, who was in the S3 gang and known as Venomous, in revenge for a previous incident.

But Mr Nelson told police he was partially sighted and had nothing to do with the shootings.

He denied both murder and attempted murder.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
South Yorkshire Police
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites