A DEVASTATED widow has told of her anguish as five young boys locked up for stoning her husband to death have walked free after their manslaughter convictions were overturned on appeal.

Ernest Norton, 67, was taunted, spat at and pelted with sticks and stones in a "violent, unprovoked attack" by the group - aged 10 to 13 - as he played cricket with his teenage son.

A half-brick hit him on the temple and he collapsed and died from a massive heart attack at Erith Leisure Centre in February last year.

The boys, now aged 12 to 14, but who cannot be named for legal reasons, were each convicted of manslaughter and violent disorder in August after a five-week Old Bailey trial.

They were given two-year youth detention sentences in October - but are now free after their manslaughter convictions were quashed at the Appeal Court on Thursday.

Widow Linda said: "I don't know what to think. My head is just spinning from it all. The boys are happy at home now, but I'm not. I think Christmas is going to be a happier time for them than me."

Reasons for the Appeal Court's decision will be given later. The boys will be sentenced for violent disorder next year.

* For the full story and Mrs Norton's interview, see the Bexley Extra.