A man suffered a fatal epileptic seizure caused by a violent attack at the hands of a gang of youths more than 15 years earlier, a court has heard.
Daniel Allright was 16 when he was hit over the head with a piece of wood, an advertising board and a bicycle chain in southeast London in September 2006.
He suffered brain injuries that caused him to have seizures and died from one aged 31 in March 2022.
Jordan Burton admitted being involved in the attack on Daniel when he was only 14 and later pleaded guilty to violent disorder and GBH.
Now 33, he is on trial at the Old Bailey charged with murder.
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Opening the prosecution case against him, Duncan Atkinson KC told jurors Daniel suffered ‘significant’ bleeding around his brain and an increase in pressure in his skull following the attack and had to undergo a craniotomy.
The court heard Daniel suffered his first seizure in March 2007 and was prescribed medications to treat epilepsy, but his seizures increased in severity in the months before his death.
‘There may be questions about how careful he was about taking his medication, but of course, you will want to bear in mind, he would not have needed to take such medication at all had he not developed epilepsy as a result of the attack,’ Mr Atkinson said.
‘The prosecution case here is that the defendant was a party to the joint attack in which a number of people, including him, struck Daniel Allright to the head with weapons capable of causing really serious harm.
‘He thus either caused that harm himself with an intent to do so, or he intentionally assisted and encouraged others to do just that. And it is on that basis he is charged with murder.’
Burton, of Lewisham, also faces an alternative count of manslaughter.
In a witness statement to the police after the attack, Daniel said he had been on his bike with two friends after leaving his home in Oscar Street, Lewisham, when a group of males tried to rob them in Friendly Gardens on September 13, 2006.
He said a black male, later identified by him as Burton, asked him if he wanted to fight, before he was handed a piece of wood which he hit Daniel with multiple times.
Two white males in the group joined in the attack, hitting him with weapons while Daniel tried to defend himself with his arms up.
The assault was interrupted and the attackers ran off when someone came out of a shop and told them to leave the victim alone.
In police interviews in September 2006 after he was arrested in connection with the incident, Burton said he saw what happened but denied being involved or knowing anyone involved.
But he later pleaded guilty to offences of violent disorder and unlawful wounding in 2008, Mr Atkinson said.
One of the other attackers involved pleaded guilty to violent disorder in 2007, while another admitted using threatening words or behaviour.
Mr Atkinson said: ‘This provides confirmation that all three were involved in the attack on Daniel Allright.
‘None admitted an offence involving an intent to cause Daniel really serious harm, but that is the question for you now to consider in relation to this defendant.’
Daniel was found dead in the bath at his home on March 26, 2022, a day after he messaged his mother to say he had suffered a seizure and had a bad headache.
A post-mortem examination found no evidence he had drowned or suffered any natural disease, and post traumatic epilepsy was found to be the cause of death.
Therefore, Mr Atkinson told the jury, it is the prosecution’s case that Daniel died as a result of the epilepsy which itself was a result of the head injury he sustained in the attack in which Burton was an ‘active and deliberate participant’.
He said: ‘The fact that others who were identified are not here, does not alter the fact that the defendant in your charge has been identified as a party to the assault, which, the prosecution say, you can conclude ultimately led to Daniel Allright’s death.’
Police had to force entry to Burton’s address in 2024 to arrest him after he refused to answer the door.
He had been invited to attend a voluntary interview following Daniel’s death but had not attended, the court heard, and declined to answer any questions when interviewed by police.
Burton was charged with murder by postal requisition in October 2025 and indicated a plea of not guilty at Croydon Magistrates’ Court in November, suggesting he had not intended to cause the victim serious bodily harm.
Mr Atkinson said the jury could consider the alternative manslaughter charge if they were not convinced Burton was guilty of murder.
‘The prosecution case is that the 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 him really serious harm, indeed, he admitted as much in 2008,’ Mr Atkinson said.
‘Where someone engages in such activity, they are, therefore, guilty at least of manslaughter.
‘However, the prosecution case is that he deliberately used a weapon, and encouraged others to do the same, to repeatedly strike Daniel Allright to the head.
‘He thus either caused such harm himself with an intent to do so, or intentionally assisted and encouraged others to do so.’
The trial continues.
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