A TEENAGER cleared of murdering 16-year-old Ben Hitchcock has spoken exclusively to News Shopper.

Andre Lawrence-Bennett, aged 18, of Brownhill Road, Catford, was found not guilty by an Old Bailey jury this morning.

Speaking outside court, he said: “It feels good. It's like a lot of weight off my shoulders.

“For two years this has just held me back, hanging over my head, and I never knew what was going to happen.

“But at the end of the day I came out on top.”

He added: “I have always said I was innocent. I sympathise with the mother. I hope she finds out what happened to her son.”

Ben, of Blean Grove, Penge, was stabbed during a fight on June 23, 2007, after he and friends from the Penge Block 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 during the brawl in Southend Road, Beckenham.

Co-defendant Mitchell Elliott, aged 19, of Howerd Way, Woolwich, was also cleared of murder this morning.

Royston Thomas, aged 19, of Hazel Grove, Sydenham, also denies murder.

He was declared unfit to continue with this trial last week and has been bailed until November 16 when he will stand trial again.

Olatunji Olulu, aged 18, of Firhill Road, Catford, who was charged with Ben's murder, was acquitted mid-trial due to a lack of evidence.