A DEFENDANT in the Ben Hitchcock murder trial has been acquitted after the judge ruled there was not enough evidence against him.

Olatunji Olulu, aged 18, of Firhill Road, Catford, was today released from custody and walked free from the Old Bailey.

After sitting in the dock throughout the first 20 days of the trial, Mr Olulu was cleared after Judge Gerald Gordon directed the jury to find him not guilty of murder.

The prosecution's case rested upon traces of blood found on Mr Olulu's clothing – blood which belonged to co-defendant Mitchell Elliott, who was injured during the incident which led to 16-year-old Ben's death.

The judge said: “The case against him rested entirely upon the evidence of blood stains.

“We know that Mitchell Elliott was injured in some circumstances, somewhere at some stage of the incident.

“We don't know when but there's nothing to indicate that his injuries occurred at the time Ben Hitchcock was stabbed.”

He added: “I have come to the conclusion that although the evidence may look impressive, it is superficial.

“There is nothing in it to show that Mr Olulu was one of the people attacking Ben Hitchcock in the attack which caused his death.”

Mr Olulu's father, who left court with his son, stopped only to say: “I am so happy. We knew from the start that he was not involved.”

Ben, of Blean Grove, Penge, was stabbed during a fight on June 23, 2007, after he and friends from the Penge Boys gang tried to gatecrash a party attended by rival Lewisham gang members.

The teenager's kidney was punctured when he was stabbed in the back in Southend Road, Beckenham. He died in hospital early the next morning.

Royston Thomas, aged 19, of Hazel Grove, Sydenham, and Mitchell Elliott, aged 19, of Howerd Way, Woolwich, both deny murder.

Andre Lawrence-Bennett, aged 18, of Brownhill Road, Catford, also denies murder.

The trial continues.