Islington youngster Luca Veras claimed his third consecutive gold medal on Sunday since graduating to red belt level in the summer.

The eight-year-old, a student at Sacred Heart School, has been practising for four years and travels to Moberly Judo Club, Westminster, at least twice each week for training.

He joined his brother Luan, 11, at the British Judo Association London area competition towards the end of last month, with both collecting gold medals.

Luca won four contests, taking the Under-30kg yellow belt honours with ippon, while Luan came through seven gruelling fights in the Under-42kg orange to green belts.

A third brother, 10-year-old Liam, battled hard in the Under-32kg yellow belt category but did not qualify for a medal despite putting plenty of effort into each of his six fights.

But there was further success for Luca on Sunday at the Southern Area Red Belt Rumble in Crawley, where he displayed confidence in all his techniques to win another gold medal.

Sensei Basil Dawkins, who trains all three brothers at Moberly Judo Club, said: “I’m really happy with Luca’s performance and hold great expectations for his future career as a judo athlete.”