Four Romanian teenage boys wept as they appeared in court yesterday accused of punching and kicking a middle-aged man to death at a busy railway station.

The youngsters became involved in a row on a crowded escalator at Stratford station in East London which then led to a ‘single punch’ killing, a judge heard.

John Breen, 53, was knocked to the ground and allegedly punched and kicked during a brief altercation which centred on ‘barging’ on an escalator.

Extremely busy: There was chaos in the aftermath of the alleged assault at Stratford station in East London

Crowds: Passengers try to get out of a raised area of the station near where the alleged attack happened

Two 14-year-olds, a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old, who is the brother of one of the younger boys, appeared in the dock at Stratford Youth Court flanked by one male and two female security guards.

The schoolboys, from Ilford, East London - who cannot be named for legal reasons - wore black sweatshirts and spoke only to give their names, dates of births and addresses.

The court was told the boys initially were simply being ‘boisterous’ as they were seen jumping in front of people on a packed rush-hour escalator. But this then led to an ‘altercation’ with Mr Breen.

Stratford railway station regularly deals with around 160,000 passengers every day, and there was chaos in the aftermath of the alleged assault which happened just after 5.15pm on Tuesday.

Trying to move: The alleged assault happened just after 5.15pm on Tuesday at Stratford train station

Transport hub: Stratford railway station regularly deals with around 160,000 passengers every day

None of the defendants entered a plea and as they left the dock they were still crying as members of their families shouted messages to them.

The boys were remanded in custody until their next court appearance at the Old Bailey next Monday.

Chairman of the bench Peter Dawe told them that they would be remanded to 'secure youth detention'.