HOW the Ben Hitchcock case unfolded:

June 23, 2007: Ben, whose nickname was Swipe, and fellow members of the Penge Block gang try to gatecrash a party in Beckenham which is attended by rival Lewisham gang members.

A street fight involving dozens of youths takes place in Southend Road, Beckenham, and Ben is stabbed.

June 24, 2007: Ben dies in Lewisham Hospital. His kidney was ruptured from a stab wound to the back.

June 26, 2007: Ben's mother Lee appeals for witnesses to come forward and help the police find her son's killer.

She tells reporters: “He was 16 and had just finished his exams at school. He had the rest of his life before him. We must know the truth about what happened."

July 4, 2007: Met police launch a London-wide operation to combat violence and gang culture among young people. Operation Club follows the violent death of 15 young people in the capital since January.

July 14, 2007: Police arrest Andre Lawrence-Bennett, of Brownhill Road, Catford, on suspicion of murder but release him without charge.

July 24, 2007: Police offer a £10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of Ben's killer.

October 18, 2007: Friends and staff at Ben's school - Kelsey Park Sport College, in Manor Way, Beckenham - take part in a tree planting ceremony to remember the teen.

March 8, 2008: Ben's grave is vandalised. The cross is ripped from the ground, a guardian angel thrown from the grave and flower pots and lights smashed.

March 10, 2008: Ben's mother works in the wind and rain to put her son's grave back together.

June 24, 2008: Royston Thomas, of Hazel Grove, Sydenham, is charged with Ben's murder.

September 15, 2008: Mitchell Elliot, aged 18, of Howerd Way, Greenwich, is charged with Ben's murder.

December 2, 2008: Lawrence-Bennett and Olatunji Olulu, aged 18, of Firhill Road, Catford, are charged with Ben's murder.

May 27, 2009: The murder trial begins at the Old Bailey.

June 23, 2009: Olulu, one of the four defendants, is acquitted of murder and released from custody after the judge rules there is not enough evidence against him.

June 29, 2009: Royston Thomas, aged 19, of Hazel Grove, Sydenham, is ruled to be unfit to continue with the trial after a sudden bereavement. He will stand trial in November.

July 7, 2009: Lawrence-Bennett and Elliott are both cleared of murdering Ben.