STILL NO JUSTICE FOR MURDERED BLACK TEENAGER

31st May marks four years since the gruesome murder of British-born Jamaican teenager Dea-John Reid in broad daylight in the city of Birmingham.

Reid was murdered by a group of white teenagers and grown men who chased him down a street and stabbed him multiple times while shouting racial slurs. The brutal incident was captured on security cameras.

Reid's family are still demanding justice over his murder. A 15-year-old white boy was convicted of the lesser crime of manslaughter - but not of murder, as demanded by the family and prosecution. He received a six-and-a-half-year sentence for the crime, but he is likely to serve only half of his sentence behind bars because of the nature of the British judicial system.

Two other teenagers and two adults who had been accused of taking part in the attack on the Jamaican teenager walked free after the court acquitted them of all charges.

Many have described the verdict as a miscarriage of justice. They blame the jury's composition for this. Out of the 12 jurors, 11 were White, while one was of Asian descent. The Ministry of Justice says jurors are randomly selected, but given that people of colour make up over half of Birmingham, it is difficult to understand how a jury in such a case could be 91% white and 100% non-Black.

The verdict has led to calls for deliberate efforts to make juries more ethnically diverse, especially in cases where race is at the centre.

Please follow the Justice 4 Dea-John Reid campaign at https://www.facebook.com/share/c7WE41c8M2kpsEZx/?mibextid=LQQJ4d and lend the family your support.