Killer who beat teenage boy with bicycle chain during robbery faces life sentence after victim dies from epileptic fit in bath 16 years later

A killer who beat a teenage boy with a bicycle chain during a robbery now faces a life prison sentence after his victim died from an epileptic fit in a bath 16 years after the vicious attack.Daniel Allright was 16 when he was savagely attacked by up to five teenagers, including Jordan Burton, in Deptford, south-east London, on September 13, 2006.The attack caused internal bleeding which led to life-changing injuries frofm the incident and involved an operation to ‘remove part of his skull’ to relieve pressure on his brain. Sixteen years later, Mr Allright's mother found her son, 31, submerged in his bath on March 26 2022, the Old Bailey heard.At the time of the incident, Mr Allright gave a police statement which said he was cycling home with two friends when ‘five boys’ approached them on Lewisham Way in Deptford. He intervened when the gang tried to rob his friends, to which one assailant said: ‘Want a fight?’ and Mr Allright replied: ‘No, what would I want a fight with you for? I don’t even know you.’ Duncan Atkinson, KC, prosecuting said: ‘It was at this point that one of the white males picked up a piece of wood and handed it to the black male.‘The black male told him to get off his bike, and hit him to the head with the piece of wood. Mr Allright got off his bike, and was hit again. Pictured: Jordan Burton has been unanimously convicted of murder of Daniel Allright who died sixteen years after Burton attacked him ‘He later identified the defendant as this black male.’Jordan Burton, 34, who was identified as one of the assailants in the attack, had admitted violent disorder and inflicting grievous bodily harm upon Mr Allright in 2007.And now Burton, of Lewisham, has been unanimously convicted of murder after six hours of jury deliberations.During his appearance in court, Burton denied murdering Mr Allright.He showed no emotion as the verdict was passed, but held his head in his hands after glancing to the public gallery, where members of his family wept.Judge Anthony Leonard said: ‘The jury have found you guilty of murder and I will sentence you tomorrow.‘My job is to identify the minimum term you will serve before you are considered for release. In the meantime, you are remanded in custody.’As he was being led to the cells, Burton paused to look at jurors and the public gallery, appearing as if he was going to say something, but said nothing in the end. Daniel Allright (pictured) suffered life-changing injuries after he was savagely attacked by up to five teenagers, including Jordan Burton, in Deptford, south-east London, on September 13, 2006.The prosecutor earlier told jurors: ‘It was as a result of that attack that Mr Allright suffered brain injuries, which caused him to suffer from post-traumatic epilepsy.‘The prosecution case here is that this defendant was a party to the joint attack in which a number of persons struck Daniel Allright to the head with weapons capable of causing really serious harm.’Mr Allright was ‘attacked by a group of young males’ and struck with ‘a piece of wood, an advertising board and a bicycle chain’ on September 13, 2006.He suffered internal bleeding to his head and twice went under the knife – the second operation involved ‘removing part of his skull’ to relieve pressure on his brain.Mr Allright continued to live with epilepsy for the rest of his life, diligently recorded by his mother Geraldine Henderson who ‘kept a diary in relation to her son’s condition’.The prosecutor said: ‘In the four to five months before his death, those seizures had got noticeably worse, increasing both in their length and severity.’He had told his mother one day before his death about another seizure that morning and reported a ‘headache’, after which he did not respond to further messages.‘Mrs Henderson went to her son’s address and found him in the bath. He was lying on his back, with his body submerged, and he was wearing underwear.‘The bath water was warm, and the bath was still running.’Pathologists later concluded the cause of death as ‘post-traumatic drug-resistant epilepsy characterised by regular monthly seizures’ resulting from his brain injuries.Mr Atkinson told jurors: ‘Mr Allright died as a result of epilepsy which itself resulted from the head injury Mr Allright sustained in the attack on 13 September 2006.’The court heard that after Burton started carrying out the attack, others then joined in, each armed with weapons including a ‘metal bicycle chain’, and both before and during this assault Burton was heard saying ‘hit him in his head’.The prosecutor said: ‘Mr Allright put his arms up to defend himself and closed his eyes. He was hit so hard he bent double, and then he started to see double, and had a bad headache.‘That attack was witnessed by many persons who made statements about it in 2006.’Witnesses describe seeing Burton being egged on by his friends as he ‘held the piece of wood with both hands and swung it repeatedly at the victim’s head.’Another described seeing Mr Allright lying on the ground as he was hit with an ‘advertising board’ and struck with a ‘chain or rope with which the other white male whipped him’.The gang fled the scene with his bike, the court heard.Mr Atkinson told jurors: ‘There is no dispute now that the defendant did take part in that incident.‘Indeed, there has not been any dispute as to that since at least 2008 when he pleaded guilty to offences of violent disorder and unlawfully causing grievous bodily harm to Daniel Allright.’Others involved in the attack, including Mitchel Bullen and Roy Little, aged 14 and 15 at the time, also pleaded guilty to lesser offences relating to the incident in 2007.He added: ‘Indeed, none admitted an offence involving an intent to cause him really serious harm, but that is the question for you now to consider in relation to this defendant.‘You may hear that a charge alleging such an intention was dropped in relation to Bullen and Little.‘That does not prevent you from concluding that this defendant had such an intention, and their absence from this trial does not prevent you from concluding that those two were also involved.’Burton, of Lewisham, denied but was convicted of murder.He has 14 previous convictions for 28 offences, most recently for witness intimidation.