Teen not guilty of manslaughter of 82-year-old man

A teenager, who pushed over an elderly man in a street, has been found not guilty of his manslaughter.

Giovanni Cecaro, 82, was on his daily walk when he encountered youths outside shops in Slough, Berkshire, on 24 September 2024, prosecutors said.

He was pushed over by a 16-year-old boy and died in hospital five days later.

The defendant, who is now aged 17 and cannot be named because of his age, was cleared by a jury at Reading Crown Court.

The group of boys and girls were jostling each other outside a convenience store at the junction of Stoke Road and Elliman Avenue, according to CCTV footage played in court.

At about 15:50 BST, Cecaro approached and began to chat with them, the jury was told.

He briefly took a pocket knife from his jeans before putting it away, the court heard.

He then slapped a boy's hand away and was immediately pushed backwards over a kerb by a second boy, the jury was told.

The sound of him striking the ground was "loud enough to cause the shop window and vegetable stalls to shake", the trial heard.

Cecaro, who had a history of heart failure, was conscious in hospital but unable to speak, the court was told.

The former vehicle mechanic came to England from Italy in 1968 and had lived in Stoke Road for 51 years, his son Cipriano Cecaro told the court.

Defence barrister Ed Butler previously told the witness: "We are very sorry for your loss.

"You should know that that was never the intention of the young man I represent."