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Teens found guilty of killing Ralph Millward

May 21 2010
Three teenagers have been found guilty of kicking a homeless man to death. Three teenagers have been found guilty of kicking a homeless man to death.

Ralph Millward, 41, had been sleeping rough outside Marks & Spencer in Westbourne, Dorset, when he was attacked on 8 May last year. His body was discovered partially hidden in nearby bushes the next morning.

Winchester Crown Court heard the boys - aged 15, 16, and 17, and who cannot be named - killed him when he refused to give them a cigarette. According to the local newspaper, The Bournemouth Echo, one of the boys claimed he had built an association with Mr Millward over two years, asking him for cigarettes or a light and sometimes giving him small change.
He added that only the youngest boy had kicked the rough sleeper, and that he and the other defendant had returned to check his pockets for tobacco. It was at this point, the teenager told the jury, that he tried to put Mr Millward in the recovery position as he could hear him 'choking'.

Hundreds of local people turned up at Mr Millward's funeral last year and his death made national news in papers including the front cover of The Big Issue.

Mr Millward is believed to originally be from the Midlands but had been rough sleeping in Dorset for some years.
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