Two men accused of murdering 17-year-old Tanesha Melbourne-Blake in a drive-by shooting in Tottenham have been cleared of all charges, after four trials at the Old Bailey and more than eight years since her death.

Tanesha was killed by a single gunshot wound to the chest on Easter Monday, 2 April 2018, as she stood with friends on Chalgrove Road in Tottenham, north London. Prosecutors said she had no involvement in criminality and was caught in a shooting from a passing car, amid a gang rivalry between the Northumberland Park Killers and the Wood Green Mob.

Marcus La Croix, 38, from Hackney, who performs as the rapper Bobby Slater, was acquitted of murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life after a retrial earlier this year. On 19 May a jury returned not-guilty verdicts after deliberating for 13 hours and 34 minutes.

His co-accused, Michael Clarke, from Luton, faced two further trials. Two juries failed to reach verdicts, and after the second jury was discharged, the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence on Friday 6 November. Judge Mark Dennis KC then formally directed not-guilty verdicts, bringing the prosecution to an end.

Why the outcome can only now be reported

The verdicts could not be reported until all proceedings had concluded, after reporting restrictions and court orders lapsed at the end of Clarke's case. Tanesha's family sat through four complete trials over six years before the final acquittals were reached.

An earlier trial collapsed after the judge found that a crucial document had not been properly disclosed to barristers, and the two men were then tried separately.