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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National
Emily Pennink

Three girls admit killing 75-year-old in attack filmed on mobile phone

Fredi Rivero died in February (Metropolitan Police/PA) - (PA Media)

Three teenage girls have admitted killing a 75-year-old man in a 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, aged 15, 16 and 17, pushed, shoved, kicked and punched him, with one of them filming the incident on her phone and grabbing his glasses.

CCTV of Fredi Rivero (Met Police) (PA Media)

As part of the police investigation, officers recovered CCTV footage of the assault in which the oldest girl was seen to punch the victim in the head causing him to fall backwards.

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 where he later died.

On Thursday, the girls, who cannot be identified because of their ages, appeared at the Old Bailey before Judge Judy Khan KC.

The girls, who appeared from custody by video link, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Judge Khan ordered reports and remanded the defendants into custody to be sentenced on September 5.

Previously, police have said Mr Rivero was a “much-loved father” whose family were “devastated by his death”.

Mr Rivero’s daughter, ex-wife and cousins attended court for the hearing on Thursday.

Detective Inspector Devan Taylor, from Scotland Yard, said: “Mr Rivero was a much-loved family man who died in a truly tragic incident. I know how much his death has impacted those close to him and the wider community.

“I would like to offer my heart-felt sympathy to Mr Rivero’s family for their loss and express my admiration for the dignity they have shown throughout the investigation. I also wish to thank the members of public who went to Mr Rivero’s aid as he lay injured.

“The young defendants have now accepted they were responsible for the killing of Mr Rivero, in what was a senseless and completely out of the blue attack on a lone, elderly man. The age of the defendants adds to the devastating nature of this incident and they will now have to deal with the enormity of their actions.”

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