THE family of a teenager found hanged in his cell at a young offenders' institution have failed in a posthumous bid to clear him of committing a robbery in Southall.
Ben Grimes, 18, of Sunbury, was found dead at the unit, in Dorset, in November last year.
His body was discovered nine days after being handed a five-year term of detention at Isleworth Crown Court for the robbery and other offences.
Last week High Court judges at the Appeal Court heard the case brought in a bid to erase the violent robbery of a woman walking her dog from the dead youth's record.
The court heard Meena Hans, 46, was walking her pet in Tentelow Lane, Southall, on the evening of February 15 last year when she was attacked from behind and robbed.
She was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken jaw, but later managed to identify Grimes as her attacker in an ID parade.
Grimes's lawyers argued the conviction was based on a 'fleeting glimpse' and that the case should have been withdrawn.
They also argued there was no other evidence to support the case that Grimes had been the robber, except the identification by the victim, which was said to be unreliable.
But dismissing the appeal, Lord Justice Laws said: "This was not a fleeting glimpse case. She had a clear view at close quarters in bright light.
"The circumstances were not so difficult as to impact on her ability to recognise her assailant."
