Gloucester: Teens who killed 16-year-old boy sentenced to detention after 'chilling' trial
Four teenagers who killed a 16-year-old boy in a dispute between two gangs have been sentenced to detention for manslaughter.
Ramarni Crosby was stabbed to death in Gloucester in December 2021 after being confronted by the youths who had a machete, a meat cleaver, and knives.
Levi Cameron, 19, and Callum Charles-Quebella, 18, along with 16-year-olds Shai Howes and Oisin Barrett did not inflict the fatal blows, but were part of the gang that attacked him.
Cameron, Howes and Barrett were found guilty of manslaughter, while Charles-Quebella had earlier admitted his role.
CCTV footage showed Ramarni and his four friends running away, before he slowed and collapsed in Stratton Road, where he died soon after.
The four defendants were all previously cleared of murder by a jury at Bristol Crown Court.
Cameron, who was armed with a machete, was handed a 15-and-a-half year sentence - including a three-year licence period.
Charles-Quebella, who had a meat cleaver and was described as being "right in the forefront of the attack", was sentenced to 11-and-a-half years, including the same licence period as Cameron.
Howes, who was unarmed, will spend eight years and nine months in detention, while Barrett was given a seven-and-a-half year term.
They will all serve two-thirds of their custodial sentences before they can apply for parole.
Howes and Barrett previously could not be named, but the judge has now lifted a reporting restriction that applied to the pair.
During the trial, the jury heard how the defendants were part of a gang called GL1, who would wear purple bandanas and had an ongoing rivalry with Ramarni's group.
The victim, who was unarmed, punched one of the GL1 members before being set upon and stabbed several times.
Cameron, Howes and Barrett then got in a taxi to a nearby house where CCTV footage shows them acting out the incident, appearing to "celebrate" after being told Ramarni had died.
Passing sentence, Mrs Justice Cutts said the impact of Ramarni's death on many lives was "immeasurable".
"The evidence I heard during the course of this trial of young men and children carrying knives in Gloucester was chilling," she said.
"Nothing that happened before remotely justifies your group arming themselves that day.
"Never before is there a clearer example of the danger of carrying knives than this case and the death of this young boy.
"Ramarni did not have any weapons and he threw a punch, and it was that single punch that resulted in some of you acting like ferocious animals to set upon him. It is not possible to say who struck the fatal blow."
She also criticised Barrett for "writing nasty drill lyrics glorifying the death of Ramarni".
Drill is a sub-genre of rap, often - but not always - associated with gang culture.
Ramarni, from Frampton-on-Severn, Gloucestershire, was training to be an electrician.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, his grandmother Viv Clifford said: "Watching Ramarni grow up in a small village was a joy.
"He passed six GCSEs and was at college training to be an electrician. Then our world imploded when Ramarni was killed."
