On a cold February night in 2025, the streets of Islington, north London, became the setting for a tragedy that has since reverberated through the city and beyond. Seventy-five-year-old Fredi Rivero, a Bolivian national and former hotel worker, was making his way home near a bus stop on Seven Sisters Road when he was confronted by three teenage girls. The events that unfolded would leave a family shattered, a community in mourning, and a nation grappling with questions about youth violence and accountability.
According to BBC News, CCTV footage showed the girls—aged 14, 16, and 17 at the time—getting off a bus and surrounding Mr. Rivero. During their initial encounter, he tried to defuse the situation by making a peace sign and asking, “Girls, what’s the problem?” But the girls, who had reportedly consumed half a bottle of vodka earlier that evening, were not to be deterred. After briefly walking away, they returned, escalating the encounter into a brutal assault. One of the girls pulled Mr. Rivero’s glasses from his face, another shoved him, and the eldest delivered a punch that sent him crashing to the pavement.
The attack, described by Detective Inspector Devan Taylor of Scotland Yard as “completely unprovoked” and “sickening,” was filmed on a mobile phone by one of the girls. In the footage, the girls could be heard screaming abuse and laughing at their vulnerable victim. As Sky News reported, police were called to the scene at about 11:35 pm on February 27. They found Mr. Rivero unconscious, with a severe head injury and in cardiac arrest. Despite the immediate efforts of bystanders and emergency responders, he was pronounced dead at the Royal London Hospital the next day, February 28.
The swift response of local police led to the arrest of the girls within hours—two were found in a nearby park and the third at her home. Once in custody, the girls began to blame each other for the attack. According to The Daily Mail, the middle girl attempted to shift responsibility, telling police, “I’ll be so real, that’s his fault, he started on us, (the eldest girl) pushed him, and he lost his balance and he fell.” The youngest insisted, “It wasn’t me. I promise I know who it was, it was my sister’s friend.” The eldest, who threw the punch that felled Mr. Rivero, asked an officer, “I was just helping my friends, he was pushing me, and I punched him, is he alive?”
At the Old Bailey on October 3, 2025, the three girls—whose identities remain protected due to their ages—pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Judge Judy Khan KC, noting their “unusually traumatic upbringings,” sentenced the eldest to four years’ detention, the middle to three-and-a-half years, and the youngest to two-and-a-half years. Together, their sentences total nine years of detention. The court also heard that videos seized from the girls’ phones revealed previous incidents of violence against other members of the public.
Throughout the proceedings, the anguish of Mr. Rivero’s family was palpable. His daughter, Carla Rivero, delivered a victim impact statement that cut to the heart of the matter. “It wasn’t my Dad’s time to die,” she told the court, her voice steady but grief-stricken. “His death was forced upon him by three girls.” She described her father as “the nicest person you could ever meet, so kind, never bothered anyone.” Her words painted a picture of a gentle, family-oriented man who loved chess, animals, gardening, and Queen. He was, she said, “a kind-hearted gentleman” who had endured ill health and was being treated for cancer at the time of his death.
Ms. Rivero’s statement also raised uncomfortable questions about the broader societal context of the crime. “My question—how can girls their age be out at that time? What is conjuring them to violence? What type of generation is being raised as a result of all of this?” She added, “We should be living in a society where we can have a conversation and even disagree without resorting to violence.” Her mother, she said, now feels “heartbroken and devastated” and is fearful whenever she sees youths on the street.
The prosecution, led by Louise Oakley, emphasized that the violence was entirely unprovoked and gratuitous. “He was not the aggressor, he did not start the incident, we submit he didn’t do anything inappropriate. He is continually trying to get away from them, and they continue to follow him. He was an elderly man, on his own, who simply wanted to get home. The violence and humiliation they inflicted on him was gratuitous.”
Detective Inspector Devan Taylor, who led the investigation, echoed these sentiments in his public statements. “This was a senseless and completely out-of-the-blue attack on a lone, elderly man,” he said, according to Sky News. “The fact they filmed the attack and found it funny is even more sickening.” Taylor also expressed his admiration for the dignity shown by Mr. Rivero’s family and gratitude to the members of the public who provided first aid at the scene. “Their witness statements were also crucial in helping us arrest the girls within hours,” he noted.
As the case drew to a close, the community was left to grapple with the aftermath. The attack on Mr. Rivero, a man described by all who knew him as gentle and peace-loving, has become emblematic of growing concerns about youth violence, alcohol misuse, and the influence of social media on young people’s behavior. The fact that the girls filmed the assault and appeared to revel in their actions has prompted renewed debate about the role of technology in enabling and amplifying such incidents.
For the Rivero family, there is little solace to be found in the legal outcome. “I will never forgive these three offenders for cruelly and maliciously killing my dad,” Mr. Rivero’s daughter told the court. “He was an ill, elderly person who would never hurt anyone. His death makes the crime irreversible.” She vowed that her father “will be remembered and honoured for the kind and peaceful person he was, not in the manner in which his life was taken.”
The sentencing of the three girls closes a chapter in a case that has shocked many, but the questions raised by Mr. Rivero’s family and the wider community linger. As London moves forward, the memory of Fredi Rivero and the lessons of his tragic death will not soon be forgotten.
