As four teenagers were convicted of killing a woman as she cradled a baby at a christening party, the infant's father called for a return of the death penalty.

Zainab Kalokoh, 33, had fled war-torn Sierra Leone, only to be shot in the head when the four masked youths raided the family gathering in south London. She collapsed before Alfred Sesay's eyes with his baby still in her arms.

"One minute we were all laughing, talking and dancing - then suddenly we were crying. It was horrible," Mr Sesay said.

"If there was a death penalty, they would throw away their guns. At present it's just bang for a watch, bang for a mobile."

One of the youths, a 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted of murder.

Brothers Diamond, 17, and Timmy Babamuboni, 15, were cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter along with Jude Odigie, 17.

The Babamubonis, both Nigerians, were in the country illegally and had a string of convictions over the last five years - despite attempts to reform them. Both face now deportation.

Unlike them, Mrs Kalokoh's close-knit family had legally found sanctuary in Britain.

Mrs Kalokoh had "the reasonable expectation that this country would provide her with a peaceful, violence-free life", prosecutor Brian Altman had told the jury.

"She was tragically wrong. Her life ended in a dilapidated community hall where she and other guests had become targets of this gang of masked and hooded youths."

Cowering guests robbed

As she lay dying in the hall on the Wood Dene estate in Peckham, the raiders stripped cowering guests of valuables.

"They came heavily armed - with loaded guns and intent of extreme violence - and extreme violence is what they did that night."

On August 27 last year, one gangster fired a sawn-off shotgun into the ceiling of the hall. Another shot Mrs Kalokoh in the head with a handgun. Even the fact that she was holding the six-month-old Adama did not stop them.

It sounded "like a light bulb popping", Mr Sesay said later. "Others thought it was a balloon bursting," the prosecutor told the jury. "Then he (Mr Sesay) saw his second-cousin fall to the floor with his baby still in her arms.

Mercifully, little Adama was unharmed. "But Mrs Kalokoh rapidly died from her fatal wound," Mr Altman added.

"People started to stampede. In a blink of an eye a happy gathering had been transformed into a scene of utter terror."

Spoils in bin bags

The youths put the spoils into bin bangs and fled. Mr Sesay tried to go after them, but his partner - the baby's mother - held onto him.

"She was telling me to be cautious but I wanted to tackle them. I tried to get away from her but by the time I got there, they were already gone."

About 100 people, many of them children, were at the hall which Mr Sesay had hired for £70 and spent the whole day decorating.

The Babamubonis were seen among a group of youths watching the guests arrive from the balcony of 186 Wood Dene, the council flat where they lived with family. They were due to move out that weekend, as the rundown estate was to be torn down for a new housing complex.

A key witness, a youth called "Sugar", told the jury he had heard the brothers plan the robbery with some friends while he was staying with his pal Diamond. Afterwards they argued about who shot Mrs Kalokoh.

Police found two black bag with loot from the robbery at 186 Wood Dene - including an unopened christening card.

The youths had all denied the charges. Although officers found cartridges, the guns are still missing.

The four were also convicted of robbery and possession of a firearm, and are due to be sentenced in February.

Mr Sesay said his murdered second-cousin, a health worker, had "lived for the family". Her death "has had a terrible effect on all of us. We would not have thought we would experience anything like this in Britain."

HISTORY OF CRIME

The two Nigerian brothers convicted of killing Mrs Kalokoh were both under supervision orders at the time of her death.

Seventeen-year-old Diamond Babamuboni's crime record dates back to when he was 12:

2001 Taking and driving away, driving without a licence and insurance2002 Burglary, robbery2003 Possessing a knife2004 Shoplifting, attempted robbery, robbery, theft and breach of an ASBOTimmy Babamuboni, 15, started offending at age 10:2001 As part of a gang who followed schoolgirls, he used a knife to rob one girl of her phone2002 Theft2004 Assault with intent to resist arrest