Teenagers jailed for fatal attack on homeless man

Three teenagers have been jailed for a fatal gang attack on a homeless man near King's Cross station.

Anthony Marks, 51, died from his injuries five weeks after the attack on 10 August 2024.

On Monday at the Old Bailey, Jaidee Bingham, aged 16 at the time of the assault and known as 'Ghost', was sentenced to 16 years for murder. Eymaiyah Lee Bradshaw-McKoy, then aged 16, and Mia Campos-Jorge, then aged 17, were sentenced to 47 months and 42 months in youth custody for manslaughter.

Marks was hit with part of a car bonnet before being chased down, stamped on and beaten with a gin bottle in what police described as a "vicious county lines retribution attack".

Photos and videos from the night showed the teenagers, who can now be named as they are aged over 18, posing for selfies and celebrating after the killing.

The prosecution, led by Hugh Davies KC, said all three had been involved in the 'Arron' county lines drug gang, and Marks had been a customer.

On the previous evening, one of the girls was robbed while working for the gang and Bingham was tasked with finding out who had taken the drugs.

They believed Marks knew what had happened and confronted him at around 05:00 GMT the following morning, but he refused to give up any information.

He was chased from Argyle Street to Whidbourne Street by Bingham and Bradshaw-McKoy, with CCTV footage showing Bradshaw-McKoy wielding a long object, believed to be a car bumper.

Marks was repeatedly kicked and hit over the head with a glass bottle before a member of the public chased them off, armed with a cricket bat.

Sentencing at the Old Bailey, Judge Mark Dennis KC said Bingham had "elevated" the confrontation by picking up the bottle and using it with "severe violence".

Staff at King's Cross station alerted emergency services at around 06:00 GMT after finding Marks stumbling near the main concourse, with serious facial injuries and blood dripping from his head.

He was in a critical condition by the time paramedics arrived and took him to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington.

A CT scan showed bleeding on top of a pre-existing injury, the court heard.

Marks was identified by police as subject to recall to prison for breaching his licence after an earlier release.

In custody, he complained of headaches and slurred speech, but was not referred for another brain scan.

On 29 August 2024, prison staff were called to his cell after he had a seizure and was admitted to King's College Hospital, where he received emergency surgery to remove a blood clot.

He died in prison on 14 September 2024 after medics made a clinical decision to withdraw care in the absence of a next of kin to consult.

Sentencing Judge Mark Dennis KC said Marks had noted there had been criticisms of the care the victim had received, but it did not lessen the teenagers' culpability.

Defending, Frida Hussein KC said Jaidee Bingham had previously received a certificate from the Metropolitan Police for outstanding behaviour, for an incident in which he "had saved a life".

But she claimed her client had subsequently "taken a number of wrong turns in life and has been exploited by others".

The jury in the teenagers' trial last October could not reach a decision in relation to 36-year-old Harry Gittins, who had been charged with murder. His retrial is scheduled for September this year.

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