A TEENAGER who killed a pensioner during the London riots was a quiet, polite boy who rarely left his house, a neighbour said today.

Darrell Desuze, of Bath Road, Cranford, was this morning named as the 17-year-old who landed a fatal punch on 68-year-old Richard Bowes in Ealing last August.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said she was shocked to discover the former Isleworth & Syon School pupil was responsible for Mr Bowe's death.

"He was so quiet and hardly ever used to leave the house. He was very, very polite and had such good manners," she told the Gazette's sister paper the Hounslow Chronicle.

"His mother's always been very friendly and has helped with my shopping before. When I found out what had happened I told her 'it's not your fault, you can't blame yourself'."

Desuze's identity was revealed today after judge Mr Justice Saunders lifted reporting restrictions at Inner London Court.

The teenager yesterday admitted manslaughter and violent disorder, but denied a further charge of murder.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to pursue the murder charge, which is expected to lie on file. Desuze is due to be sentenced on Friday (March 16).

He had previously admitted burgling four shops after attacking Mr Bowes on August 8, the night of the Ealing riots.

Euan Ferguson, headteacher at Isleworth & Syon School, said: "It was a huge shock to learn a former student of the school has been involved in the riots and that their involvement had such tragic consequences. Our thoughts are with the friends and family of Richard Mannington Bowes.

"The sense of shock nationally that anyone could have committed such a crime is strongly shared in the school community. These were the isolated actions of an individual who had already left school and the judge has seen fit, by naming Darrell, to make an example of his actions."

Mr Bowes had been attempting to douse fires started by looters near his home in Haven Green when Desuze, known to friends as 'Smokey', walked up and punched him in the face at about 10.30pm.

The pensioner fell back and hit his head on the pavement but Desuze left him lying motionless on the ground and went on to loot nearby shops.

Mr Bowes was taken to hospital, where he died three days later. A post mortem examination carried out on August 13 gave the cause of death as a head injury.

Darrell's mother Lavinia Desuze, also of Bath Road, Cranford, is due to appear at Inner London Crown Court on Monday (March 19) accused of perverting the course of justice.

The 31-year-old, a student at South Bank University, is alleged to have destroyed the clothes her son was wearing on the night of the attack.