Jordan Burton, 33, has been found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey after his victim, Daniel Allright, died in 2022 from an epileptic seizure linked to a head injury sustained during an attack in Lewisham in 2006. Burton was 14 at the time of the assault.
Attack in Lewisham led to fatal epilepsy
The court heard that Mr Allright, then 16, was hit over the head with a piece of wood and a bicycle chain during an attack by a group of youths in Friendly Gardens, Lewisham, south-east London, in September 2006. He had been on his bike with two friends after leaving his home in Oscar Street when the group tried to rob them.
A black male, later identified by Mr Allright as Burton, asked if he wanted to fight before being handed a piece of wood, which he used to hit Mr Allright multiple times. Two white males joined the attack, hitting him with weapons while Mr Allright tried to defend himself with his arms up. The group ran off when someone came out of a shop and told them to leave the victim alone.
Burton’s earlier plea and trial denial
Burton initially denied involvement but later pleaded guilty to violent disorder and unlawful wounding in 2008. During the murder trial, he denied wrongdoing, telling jurors he had been pressured into admitting the assault in 2008.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC said Mr Allright suffered his first seizure in March 2007 and was prescribed medication, but his epilepsy worsened in the months before his death. He died aged 31 at his home on March 26, 2022, after suffering a fatal epileptic seizure in the bathroom.
Post-mortem confirms cause
A post-mortem examination found no evidence that Mr Allright had drowned or suffered any natural disease, and post-traumatic epilepsy was determined to be the cause of death.
Burton, of Achilles Street, Lewisham, will be sentenced by Judge Anthony Leonard KC on Wednesday.
