A MAN has been convicted of killing South Africa World Cup-bound football star Jermain Defoe's half-brother.
Christopher Farley 34, of Kingswood Road, Leytonstone, was today found guilty of the manslaughter of 27-year-old rapper Jade Gavin Defoe.
The father of three, known to family and friends as Gavin, died four days after being assaulted by Mr Farley in Walnut Gardens, Stratford in April last year.
The court heard Farley punched Mr Defoe during a row, causing him to fall to the ground and fracture his skull.
Following today's unanimous verdict at the Old Bailey, the court heard a victim impact statement from the victim's mother Judy Cobham.
She said: “Our loss as a family is never greater than when his children make repeated requests to see their daddy.
“They are perhaps too young to understand the meaning of death.
“I simply cannot find words great enough to describe my grief.
"How can any words describe the way a mother feels when her son has been killed.”
“Through Farley's lack of self-control, my three grandchildren have been left without a father, me without a son and my Ryan without a brother.”
Ms Cobham also said her mother had collapsed at the sight of Gavin's funeral procession and was taken to hospital, where she later died of a heart attack.
She said she felt her mother's death was "as a direct result of Gavin's death."
The court heard Mr Defoe was attacked between 4.15pm and 5pm on April 20 last year.
He and Farley, who knew each other, met in the street and exchanged words before Farley punched Mr Defoe in the face, causing him to fall to the ground and hit his head.
He was taken initially to Whipps Cross Hospital and later transferred to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN) in Queen's Street, central London, where he died four days after the attack.
A post mortem revealed the cause of death as a head injury.
Farley's defence lawyer Imran Khan argued it was failings in the treatment of Mr Defoe at Whipps Cross and not the single punch that caused his death.
Jurors handed a note to Judge Stephen Kramer QC after delivering their verdict, saying they felt the "horror and regret" expressed by Farley was genuine and that they believed he didn't intend to kill Mr Defoe.
The note also said: "The verdict upon Christopher Farley should not mask the culpability of Whipps Cross Hospital."
The court previously heard scans of Mr Defoe's brain taken at Whipps Cross were not sent by image link to specialist doctors at NHNN on the Monday of his arrival, as they were supposed to.
When they were sent on the Tuesday evening a NHNN consultant asked for Mr Defoe to be transferred immediately.
Police today said the case highlights the tragic consequences of violence.
Investigating officer Detective Inspector John Sandlin said: "A disagreement between two acquaintances led to Farley punching Gavin, which resulted in his death.
"It was a senseless loss of life, that has left the victim's family distraught."
"Farley has to live with causing the death of Gavin for the rest of his life."
Farley will be sentenced tomorrow.
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