A 17-year-old youth was today dramatically cleared of the murder of Damilola Taylor after a judge threw out the evidence of the prosecution's main witness.
Old Bailey judge Mr Justice Hooper directed the jury to find the youth not guilty of murder and other charges on his direction.
The case against the boy relied on identification evidence from the 14-year-old girl who said she had witnessed the killing of ten-year-old Damilola.
But the judge ruled that the girl had told "embellished lies" to the police which, along with other factors, would taint her evidence.
The judge, after a lengthy ruling, said: "My conclusion is that no reasonable jury, properly directed, can be sure that [the girl's] account of what she saw in Blakes Road, is reliable."
He also criticised police for offering the girl inducements to say she was there, as they believed she was.
But the inducements, including being more guaranteed to receive a £50,000 sterling reward, meant the danger that she was persuaded to "tell untruths is very real" said the judge.
The youth, who cannot be identified because of his age, looked relieved after hearing that he would be cleared.
Mr Mark Dennis, prosecuting, said the Crown would offer no further evidence against the youth in the light of the judge's ruling.
The jury of seven men and five women then continued to consider evidence in the trial against three other youths.
Two brothers aged 16 and a 15-year-old youth deny murder, manslaughter and assault with intent to rob. They cannot be named because of their ages.
They were aged 15 and 13 when Damilola was killed in November 2000. The prosecution allege he was stabbed with a broken beer bottle which severed an artery in his left thigh.
Later, the acquitted boy's solicitor Mr Greg Stewart issued a statement which said: "There are no winners in this case. My client has been separated from his family for the past eight months. The stigma of this trial will remain with him.
"My client had nothing to do with the events that led to the premature death of Damilola Taylor. "Today, the judge has taken the exceptional step of excluding the disputed evidence of a prosecution witness.
"We have argued at every stage in these proceedings that this would be the inevitable outcome.
"The prosecution have rightly decided to present no further evidence to the jury in his case."
trial later today.