09/11/2007

Youth On Bonfire Night Murder Charge

A young boy, barely into his teens, has been charged with the murder of a man whose charred body was found in the embers of a bonfire on Merseyside earlier this week.

Police charged a boy of 13 from Birkenhead with murder and robbery. He is due to appear before magistrates on Friday while two other teenagers, aged 17 and 19, have now been released on bail.

Stephen Croft, aged 34, was found on grassland at the junction of Borough Road and Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead on Bonfire night, 5 November.

Mr Croft's mother, Patricia, a youth worker, was celebrating her 53rd birthday when she was told of her son's death.

(BMcC)

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