In August 2019, eighteen-year-old Amrou Greenidge — a taekwondo competitor who had represented Britain on the world stage — was hunted through the streets of Fulham, struck down by a stolen car, and set upon with knives by five young men who had come prepared to find him. He died two days later. This week, after a retrial, all five were convicted of manslaughter, a verdict that affirms the law's reach while leaving open the deeper question of what drives the young to organize so deliberately against one of their own.
Five convicted of manslaughter in killing of teenage taekwondo star
Amrou Greenidge, 18, suffered catastrophic injuries in the coordinated attack and died two days later from his wounds.
They came to find him, armed and masked, in a stolen car.
Mark
Why does it matter that they were acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter? Aren't both serious?
Mimi
They are both serious, but the distinction shapes the sentence. Murder requires intent to kill. Manslaughter means they caused death through reckless or negligent acts—in this case, a violent attack. The jury found them guilty of the violence but not of intending to kill him specifically.
Luke
That's the legal distinction, but we should be clear: we don't know exactly what the jury thought. We know the verdict, not their reasoning. Did they think the attack wasn't meant to be fatal, or did they have reasonable doubt about intent? The source doesn't tell us.
Mark
The father was cleared of perverting justice. Does that mean he didn't know what he was doing?
Mimi
Not necessarily. It means the jury found reasonable doubt about whether he knowingly helped destroy evidence. He bought petrol when his son asked, but proving he understood the purpose—that's a higher bar legally.
Luke
Right. He may have suspected, or known, but the prosecution couldn't prove it beyond reasonable doubt. That's how acquittals work.
Mark
This feels like it was planned. They came looking for him.
Mimi
The evidence suggests that, yes. They traveled together in a stolen vehicle, dressed to hide their faces, carrying weapons. They searched for him on foot. That's not a random street fight.
Luke
The court heard that narrative, and the jury accepted it. But we should note: we're reading the prosecution's case as presented. The defense presumably offered a different account. We don't have their arguments in this reporting.
Mark
Why burn the car?
Mimi
To destroy evidence. The vehicle struck him. It would have damage, forensic traces, maybe footage from cameras inside. Fire erases that.
Luke
And it worked partially—the car was destroyed. But Gwynn Bliss got burned in the process, which created a medical record of his injuries that day. Sometimes the cover-up leaves its own trail.
Il Polso
- Five west London men, aged 18 to 21, were convicted of manslaughter following a retrial — the first trial having failed to produce a verdict — closing a two-year legal pursuit of justice for Greenidge's family.
- The attack was not spontaneous: the group traveled in a stolen vehicle, wore masks and dark clothing, and searched on foot for their target before the Mini overtook and struck Greenidge as he cycled.
- Security footage captured the moment of impact — Greenidge thrown across the bonnet — and became central evidence in establishing the coordinated, premeditated nature of the assault.
- One defendant, Connor Gwynn Bliss, attempted to erase all trace of the crime by torching the getaway car, sustaining serious burns in the process; he was separately convicted of arson and perverting the course of justice.
- The jury acquitted all five of murder, finding no proven intent to kill — a distinction that will significantly shape the prison terms to be handed down at sentencing on August 23.
In August 2019, eighteen-year-old Amrou Greenidge — a taekwondo competitor who had represented Britain on the world stage — was hunted through the streets of Fulham, struck down by a stolen car, and set upon with knives by five young men who had come prepared to find him. He died two days later. This week, after a retrial, all five were convicted of manslaughter, a verdict that affirms the law's reach while leaving open the deeper question of what drives the young to organize so deliberately against one of their own.
On a Sunday afternoon in August 2019, Amrou Greenidge was cycling through Fulham when a stolen Mini struck him and threw him to the pavement. He was eighteen years old, a taekwondo competitor who had represented Britain at European and World Cadet Championships. Within seconds of the impact, four young men climbed out of the vehicle and attacked him with large knives. Two days later, he died from his injuries.
This week, five young men from west London were found guilty of his manslaughter following a retrial. Connor Gwynn Bliss, Darrel Mortimer, Levar Jackson-Scott, Anas Osman, and Kai McDonald — ranging in age from eighteen to twenty-one — were all convicted. The jury acquitted them of murder, a distinction that will bear heavily on sentencing, scheduled for August 23.
The evidence revealed a deliberate operation. The group had traveled to the area in a stolen car, dressed in masks and dark clothing, and four of them left the vehicle to search on foot — indicating Greenidge was a specific target, not a chance encounter. Security cameras captured the moment the Mini struck him, his body lifted into the air before hitting the ground. Moments later, his attackers appeared on screen.
Afterward, the group fled and abandoned the car on Dymock Street. Gwynn Bliss called his father and arranged for petrol to be brought; the Mini was set alight, damaging nearby vehicles and leaving Gwynn Bliss with serious burns to his face and hands. His father was charged with perverting the course of justice but acquitted. Gwynn Bliss himself pleaded guilty to arson and was convicted of perverting justice alongside the manslaughter verdict.
GB Taekwondo remembered Greenidge as well known and popular within the sport. He was eighteen. Sentencing in August will determine how long each of the five will spend in prison — and will mark the final legal reckoning for a coordinated attack that ended a young life with discipline, ambition, and a future still ahead of it.
On a Sunday afternoon in August 2019, an eighteen-year-old taekwondo competitor named Amrou Greenidge was riding his bicycle through Fulham in southwest London when a stolen Mini struck him, hurling him across the bonnet. He hit the pavement injured and vulnerable. Within seconds, four young men emerged from the vehicle and descended on him with weapons—large knives among them. Two days later, Greenidge died from catastrophic injuries sustained in that coordinated attack.
On Thursday, five young men from west London were convicted of his manslaughter. Connor Gwynn Bliss, twenty-one; Darrel Mortimer, twenty-one; Levar Jackson-Scott, eighteen; Anas Osman, nineteen; and Kai McDonald, eighteen—all were found guilty following a retrial. The jury acquitted them of murder, a distinction that will matter enormously when sentencing arrives on August 23. Gwynn Bliss faced additional charges: he pleaded guilty to arson and was convicted of perverting the course of justice for his role in destroying evidence.
The evidence presented to the court painted a picture of deliberate, organized violence. The five men had traveled to the location in a stolen vehicle, dressed in dark clothing and masks or balaclavas—a deliberate effort to conceal their identities. They carried weapons. Four of them left the car to search on foot for their target, suggesting Greenidge was not a chance encounter but someone they had come to find. When they located him, they gave chase. The stolen Mini overtook him and struck him down. Security camera footage captured the moment of impact—Greenidge thrown into the air, his body bouncing off the bonnet. Seconds later, the four attackers appeared on screen.
What happened next was an attempt to erase the crime. The five fled in the Mini and abandoned it on Dymock Street. Gwynn Bliss then called his father, Vincent Gwynn, fifty-eight, and asked him to purchase a can of petrol. The vehicle was set alight, destroying the Mini and damaging several parked cars nearby. Gwynn Bliss sustained serious burns to his face and hands in the fire—injuries he was later treated for. His father was charged with perverting the course of justice but was acquitted.
Greenidge was known to the taekwondo community. GB Taekwondo described him as "well known and popular." He had represented Britain at the Cadet European Championships and the Cadet World Championships in 2015, achievements that marked him as a serious competitor and a young person with discipline and ambition. He was eighteen years old.
The retrial that led to these convictions suggests the first trial did not reach a verdict—a hung jury or some other procedural outcome that required the case to be tried again. That second trial resulted in guilty verdicts on manslaughter for all five. The distinction between manslaughter and murder carries weight in sentencing; the jury's decision to acquit on the murder charge means they did not find the defendants acted with the intent to kill, though their actions caused death. Gwynn Bliss's additional conviction for perverting the course of justice reflects his documented role in destroying the getaway vehicle.
Sentencing will come in mid-August. Four of the five defendants will learn their prison terms then. Gwynn Bliss's sentence will account for manslaughter, arson, and perverting the course of justice—a more complex calculation. The case closes one chapter but opens another: the question of how long these five young men will spend in prison, and what accountability looks like for a coordinated, premeditated attack that ended a teenager's life.
Citazioni salienti
Well known and popular— GB Taekwondo, describing Amrou Greenidge
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Crime & Justice