[1] Maidstone Crown Court also heard one of the five white men make a racist remark about Alaneme after coming across him following a night's heavy drinking, during which some had taken cocaine.
When the black teenager's white friends objected, the gang chased and surrounded Alaneme, fatally stabbing him in his liver, it was alleged.
[citation needed] In the space of 90 seconds, Mark Davies, an off-duty taxicab driver who got caught up in their "indiscriminate" violence, the court heard, was also knifed.
[3] The day after the murder of Alaneme, the police released that a man was arrested over a "gang stabbing" and they believed there were at least four people involved in the attack.
[5] On 29 September 2006, Gerry Duhig, 27, of Camberwell, south London, was given conditional bail after an in-chambers application at Maidstone Crown Court.
Four other men remain in custody at Belmarsh Prison after an earlier hearing, accused of fatally stabbing the teenager in Sheerness, in April.
[6] On 27 November 2006, all five men, who are from south east London, pleaded not guilty to murder at Maidstone Crown Court, before a trial date was set for 1 October 2007.
"After speaking to witnesses, we believe there were words said prior to the incident that suggest racial motivation was a factor," said Supt Steve Corbishley.
But despite the undoubted improvements made in the investigation and handling of racist crime, the number of race-hate incidents reported to the police has continued to grow.
Chief constables have argued that the rise in reported racist incidents is a positive development and reflects ethnic minorities' growing confidence in the police to deal with their complaints in a sympathetic and even-handed manner.
[7] A week later, on 9 October 2007, the prosecutor said: "This case isn't about a late night punch up, it's about a group of five friends who in two separate incidents closed in on unarmed men, causing serious injuries to one and death to the other."