Fury of woman whose dad was beaten to death by paedophile vigilante gang after teens walk free
Zoe Kelly called four further action against four teens who walked free after reportedly beating her dad before he died
A GRIEVING young woman whose dad was beaten by a vigilante gang that mistook him for a paedophile before being stabbed to death blasted: "They got away with murder."
Zoe Kelly, 21, spoke out after three teens walked free from court after being cleared of murdering her dad Darren Kelly.
A fourth teenager, aged 13, who was seen attacking the 42-year-old, never faced charges.
Lorry driver Kelly was lured to his death by a then 15-year-old girl, who said she was an adult, after meeting on an internet chat room.
Witnesses saw all four teens repeatedly punching and kicking Darren before 20-year-old Chris Carol, who was convicted of murdering Kelly last year, stabbed the dad six times.
The remaining three teens, two boys aged 17 and the girl, now 16, were cleared of murder and manslaughter after a six-week trial at Chelmsford crown court. Carol was jailed for a minimum of 21 years.
Despite a petition launched by Kelly's family gaining more than 4,000 signatures the CPS said the teens will not face any additional charges.
Zoe says she felt physically sick when she heard the not guilty verdicts and has since lost all faith in the justice system.
She said: "They have literally got away with murder. The justice system is supposed to be fair but it couldn't be further from the truth in this case.
"It's an absolute disgrace and it makes me incredibly angry to think that they're out there freely walking around just streets away from my house.
"It is an immense sense of injustice only having one in five behind bars. The girl who organised it has got away scot-free, which leaves me with a very bitter taste in the mouth.
"The two boys who knocked 10 bells out of him got nothing. The 13-year-old girl who was with them and a witness saw them all kicking him wasn't even charged.
"We can take some solace Carol got what he deserved but the others had big parts in the attack, especially the older girl, and they've got nothing.
"It makes a complete mockery of the law and it's totally unfair."
Zoe says a witness saw the entire attack, and said all the kids were attacking him at once. Other witnesses saw all or part of the attack involving the teens.
The heartbroken daughter added: "There was so much evidence against them, it took three weeks to hear it all. It wasn't as if there was a case of mistaken identity.
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"There was so much to prove that they were guilty of sometimes including DNA evidence which you can't argue with and they've still got away with it."
Zoe found out her dad had died when police turned up on the door of their flat in Pitsea, Essex and bluntly told her mum at 3.30am.
She has struggled to cope with the loss and been forced to give up work as a shop assistant.
Her pain was made worse after her dad's attackers smirked at her from the dock during their trial, "showing no remorse for what they've done".
The dad-of-one began talking to the girl after meeting on Whisper, a website where people can talk anonymously.
Assuming she was an adult he agreed to meet her close to his house on October 20 last year.
The group of teens hid in a bush, waited for him to arrive and chased him down the road before repeatedly punching and kicking him.
Carol then arrived and grimly said he'd "deal with him" before fatally stabbing Darren six times.
Zoe said: "The older girl admitted she had met two men before she set up my dad because she hated paedophiles and wanted them off the streets.
"This is what makes me so angry because there is no proof that my dad ever had an interest in underage girls."
Zoe says the girl deleted all the conversations they had online and can't find her dad's phone so there is no proof he thought she was underage.
She added police ";said most of the calls that he had on his previous phone were to women of a similar age or older".
Zoe thinks the girl, who cannot be named along with the boys because of their age, will be more confident to entrap more men in the future after being found not guilty.
She said: "She could do it again and have it in her head that the law is a pushover and she is untouchable.
"There is absolutely nothing stopping her doing this again."
She added: "If it wasn't for her none of others would have been there and my dad would probably still be alive."
Zoe lived with her dad until she was 15 when he parents got divorced. She still saw him every day when he picked her up on the way to his work as a lorry driver.
About eight months before his death he met Michelle Morley, 35, and was planning on selling his house in Essex and moving to Kent to live with her.
Speaking fondly about him she said: "I would see him every morning when I went to work and I'd always go round to his house on Thursday for dinner.
"He was a fun guy who would make me laugh and if you needed help he would do anything he could."
Zoe's family launched a called Justice for Darren which is asking for the CPS to reconsider the case.
Last week the CPS announced the teens involved in the case would face no further charges.
Zoe is disgusted at their decision and said: "There are so many things that they could charge them with.
"When the announced they weren't going to do anything it felt like his death meant nothing.
"It is sending a message out to people that they can commit crime and get away with it."
Michelle said: "Hearing the news of Darren's death was like waking up to a nightmare and then to learn the nature of the way he lost his life was distressing and terrifying.
"These last seven months have been the worst days of my life and have been lost to sadness, anger and heartbreak.I am learning to cope with the stress and the knowing that I will never get to speak to Darren again.
"I will never learn of the actual events that happened that night. Why? Because I simply cannot ask him. The only honest answer I will get is from the person that for no good reason is not here with us anymore.
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