A TEENAGER from Kent has been acquitted of manslaughter after a barrister admitted there was no reasonable chance of convicting him for killing a 13-year-old.

The youth, from Gravesend, who was 15 at the time of the attack, was on trial at the Old Bailey over the death of Deividas Strizegauskas, who died of brain injuries after a brawl near the gates of his school in Upton Park, East London.

The teenager and four other boys, who cannot be named, were cleared of murder but the Old Bailey jury could not agree on the lesser charges which were eventually dropped.

The jury had deliberated for almost 30 hours before admitting they were deadlocked.

Lithuanian Deividas, who was a pupil at Brampton Manor School, died on April 27 last year.

Two other teenagers, a 15-year-old from Chatham, and a 16-year-old from Nelson, Lancashire, walked free in February after the first trial collapsed when a key witness refused to give evidence.