A SCHOOLBOY of 15 has been jailed at the Old Bailey after savagely beating a 60-year-old granddad to death who was minding his own business in a park. He has been sentenced along with carpenter Mantas Kraucevicius, 27, for the manslaughter of Eric Rider

By Mike Brooke

A SCHOOLBOY of 15 has been jailed at the Old Bailey for manslaughter after savagely beating a 60-year-old granddad to death who was minding his own business in an East London park.

He has been sentenced along with 27-year-old carpenter Mantas Kraucevicius for the manslaughter of Eric Rider at Plaistow, close to his home.

The schoolboy, who was 14 at the time, got four years after admitting manslaughter.

Kraucevicius was jailed for seven years after being found guilty by a jury on November 30.

The pair approached Eric sitting on a park bench at 7.40 Saturday morning on June 27 last summer, pretending to ask for a cigarette.

“They had been out drinking all night, despite one of them being only 14,” said Det Ins Robert Pack.

“The pair carried out a savage, sustained and senseless attack on a man who was simply minding his own business, then calmly strolled away after kicking and beating him to death without a second thought.”

The severe head and face injuries were more normally associated with a car smash or falling head first from several storeys, a pathologist told the trial.

Mr Rider’s ex-partner Patricia Venton said a family impact statement: “The green where Eric died was where our children played when they were young. Those happy memories are tainted with new ones that cause us all great pain.

“Grandparents should die from old age, not from the actions of two strangers who never gave Eric a chance.”

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