A 19-YEAR-OLD convicted of the manslaughter of Damilola Taylor was attending a unit for excluded pupils in the borough at the time of the killing.

Ricky Preddie, along with his brother Danny, aged 18, were convicted on August 9 at the Old Bailey of killing the 10-year-old schoolboy.

Ricky was a pupil at the Orchard Lodge assessment centre, William Booth Road, Anerley, at the time of the attack in November 2000.

Then aged 12, Ricky attended the centre's day school while living with his family in Peckham.

He was absent on the day Damilola was stabbed with a broken bottle and bled to death in a stairwell in Peckham.

A regional secure unit, the centre is maintained by private care provider Glen Care and can house up to 24 vulnerable children.

A spokesman for the centre refused to divulge how long Ricky was a pupil at the centre.