By Jordan Reynolds,Tristan Kirk
Copyright standard
Three teenage girls who killed a 75-year-old cancer-stricken pensioner in a shocking unprovoked attack in the street have been locked up.
Retired hotel worker Fredi Rivero was waiting for a bus in Holloway Road, north London, when he was surrounded by the group of girls, then aged 14, 16, and 17.
He put up his hands in a peace sign gesture after initially being shouted at by the group of girls.
But as he walked away, they pursued and surrounded him, snatched pensioner’s glasses from his face, hurled abuse, and filmed as Mr Rivero was kicked and shoved.
The incident culminated in the eldest girl punching the pensioner in the head, sending him crashing down to the pavement.
The Old Bailey heard on Friday that Mr Rivero tried to vain to defend himself and begged the girls “I want to go home” before the fatal blow was inflicted.
CCTV footage captured the moment he put up both hands with two fingered peace signs to try to diffuse the tension.
At the Old Bailey on Friday, Judge Judy Khan KC sentenced the three girls – who cannot be identified due to their ages – to spells in youth detention.
The older girl, 17, who delivered the fatal punch was handed a four-year sentence, the second girl, now also 17, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years, and her younger sister, now 15, was locked up for two-and-a-half years.
“This was a cruel attack on elderly man who was completely defenceless, and you showed him no mercy”, said the judge.
All three girls had pleaded guilty to Mr Rivero’s manslaughter.
“Fredi Rivero didn’t say or do anything to provoke the attack”, said the judge. “In fact he raised his hands and made a peace gesture towards you before you approached him to carry out the attack.”
She said the pensioner was “confused and terrified” by the behaviour of the girls, as they shouted at him during the escalating violence.
The court was told the attack on Mr Rivero was the culmination of a “pattern” of violence and abuse towards vulnerable people, with attacks and run-ins captured on mobile phone cameras.
One of the girls was sentenced in December last year for a shocking attack on a homeless woman, where the victim was mercilessly kicked and punched as she was on the ground.
The judge privately watched the collection of videos recovered by police, and calling it an “alarming picture” of a “pattern of unacceptable violence by all three of you”.
At the start of Friday’s hearing, Mr Rivero’s daughter delivered a powerful impact statement, calling for “justice” for her father’s killing.
“He was the nicest person you could ever meet, so kind and he never bothered anyone”, she said.
“He lived a decent family life, he saw friends once or twice a week, he worked his entire life, paid taxes, contributed to the economy, and minded his own business.”
Mr Rivero, a talented artist and calligrapher who loved chess and board games, worked for more than 25 years at the Duke’s Hotel in Mayfair.
His daughter, who asked not to be identified publicly, said her father’s death had devastated friends, family, and members of the local community, leaving some afraid to go out in public at night.
“My family and I are requesting justice”, she said, slamming the girls for “cruelly and maliciously hurting and killing my dad”.
“They demonstrated no consideration or respect for an elderly person”, she said, and detailed how her father had battled cancer and kidney disease.
“He was an ill, elderly person who would never hurt anyone, never bother anyone. This is why what they did is unforgiveable, and his death is irreversible.”
She added that her father was known for his “kind, polite, and friendly” nature, instilled into him from a young age.
One of the girls was seen wiping tears away from her eyes as she listened to the statement from the dock.
The fatal attack happened at just after 11.15pm on 27 February, when Mr Rivero was at a bus stop after an evening at a nearby pub with a friend.
The group of girls attempted to blame Mr Rivero for the events that unfolded, but prosecutor Louise Oakley showed CCTV in court that showed the pensioner was not drunk or behaving unusually, and had been entirely blameless.
He had decided to walk his friend to the bus stop before heading to his own home nearby, and cameras showed he was chatting and smiling with his friend at the bus stop as they waited for it to arrive.
The two men embraced, and moments after his friend got on to the bus the three girls departed from the same vehicle.
The youngest one was carrying an open litre bottle of vodka, and all three were unsteady on their feet, the court heard.
After one of the girls made fleeting physical contact with Mr Rivero, there was a brief verbal exchange and the pensioner made the peace gesture as the girls walked away.
However they turned and began to pursue him, with the youngest girl filming the encounter on her mobile phone.
The oldest girl pushed Mr Rivero towards the shutters of a shop on the right-hand side of the pavement, the elder sister then pulled Mr Rivero’s glasses from his face, prompting audible laughter from the group.
The pensioner, who at times raised his arms in surrender, shouted out “what do you want?”, he was surrounded, chased around the pavement, and shoved as he tried to defend himself.
“He was an elderly male, on his own, and he simply wanted to go home”, said Ms Oakley.
A member of the public was blocked from intervening in the attack, and the job of filming the incident was passed over to the older sister.
After around 90 seconds, the oldest girl punched Mr Rivero in the head, sending him crashing to the ground.
He was “supine and unconscious” when members of the public and paramedics attempted to help, said Ms Oakley, and he died in hospital the following day.
When the fatal blow was delivered, the mobile phone footage – recovered by police – captured an audible gasp from one of the girls, followed by cries of “oh no”.
The older girl was told to flee, and one of her friends remarked: “Do you want to go to prison?”
After the attack, the girls made false allegations that Mr Rivero had been “harassing” them, and made incriminating comments that they had been involved in the attack.
The attack on Mr Rivero was part of a pattern of assaults and abuse towards vulnerable and homeless people, many of which were captured on mobile phone footage.
The youngest attacker, who is now 15, was convicted in December last year after a victim was surrounded outside a Sainsbury’s and beaten by a group of girls.
Footage of the attack was played in court, showing the victim being repeatedly punched and kicked in the face by a group of girls who had surrounded her. One of the defendants is seen in the footage holding an open bottle of vodka.
She also has a caution from 2023 for two incidents of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, when she was just 13-years-old.
The 16-year-old has four convictions, including for assaulting emergency workers and racially aggravated harassment.
Judge Khan was told that all three defendants have suffered from abuse and trauma in their childhoods, with one having fallen victim to incidents of sexual violence.
Two of the girls have a history of self harm, and the older sister’s barrister, Paul Simon, urged the court to take into account that her wellbeing has improved while in secure accommodation and receiving support prior to the sentencing hearing.
Mr Simon told the court: “Her behaviour on February 20 was atrocious and shameful”, but added that she is “vulnerable” and has previously been influenced by older teenagers.
In an extraordinary step, the older sister was allowed to read out a letter of apology directed to Mr Rivero’s family.
“I know I caused you pain and trauma, I’m so sorry for this”, she said.
“I know he didn’t deserve what happened to him, and I know he must have been scared.”
She added that she is “embarrassed” at her actions, says she was angry at the time, and is working on adapting her behaviour.
At the outset of the hearing, Judge Khan ruled restrictions on the identities of the three girls should remain in place, to aid their chances of rehabilitation.