Edlington 'sadists' jailed indefinitely
The sign at the home of the two boys who carried out the attack. Lawyers described their home life as "toxic"
Friday, 22, Jan 2010 05:56
By Matthew Champion.
Two brothers have been handed indeterminate sentences for subjecting two children to a "sadistic" torture ordeal that lasted 90 minutes and left them barely alive.
Sheffield crown court has heard over the last three days the horrific details of the attack the two boys, now aged 12 and 11, launched upon two other boys aged 11 and nine in Edlington, near Doncaster, last April.
Their indeterminate sentences come with a minimum tariff of five years.
The victims were left for dead following the attack on a strip of wasteland after being lured away from a park to see a dead fox.
In court today the trial judge told the two boys, who had pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm after prosecutors dropped a charge of attempted murder, they would be going away for a "very long time".
"The fact is this was prolonged, sadistic violence for no reason other than that you got a real kick out of hurting and humiliating them," Mr Justice Keith told the boys, who also pleaded guilty to stealing a mobile phone and money, plus intentionally causing a child to engage in sexual activity.
"The bottom line for the two of you is that I'm sure you both pose a very high risk of serious harm to others."
During the ordeal the brothers had attacked their victims with broken glass, bricks and sticks.
One of the boys was also forced to strip naked and perform a sex attack, with the eldest victim hurt when pieces of ceramic sink were dropped on his head.
The court was also shown footage taken by one of the brothers of his sibling taunting one of the boys as he lay on the ground covered in blood.
Several months prior to the attack the boys had been placed into care, with lawyers describing their home life as "toxic".
The only point during the hearing when either boy showed any emotion was when lawyers discussed the violence their father showed towards their mother at home.
Both boys and their other five brothers were shown graphic horror movies at home and had their food laced with cannabis so their mother could 'have a quiet night'.
Yesterday it emerged the eldest boy said he had attacked the pair because there was "nowt" to do and he was "bored".
When asked on a scale of one to ten how close they had come to killing the victims, he answered "eight". It also emerged in court that they had only stopped the attack because their arms were hurting.
After their attackers left them, the younger boy managed to make it back to Edlington and raise the alarm.
Before leaving he knelt beside his friend and asked him if he was OK, to which he replied: "No. I can't see and I can't move my body. You go and I'll just die here."
Doncaster social services have come under severe pressure over its failure to deal with at-risk children, who were described in court as having a "toxic" home life.
After today's verdict the council offered an unreserved apology to the victims' families, saying there were "serious failings" in its approach to the boys and that the attack could have been prevented.
When the two boys were led away from the dock, the mother of one of their victims banged on a glass screen separating them from the rest of the court and shouted "evil bastards".
Addressing the victim's families, Mr Justice Keith said: "I want them to know that I've taken into account the devastating effect that all of this has had on their lives and the lives of their boys.
"I have no doubt that they would have preferred to see [the two brothers] locked up for very much longer and I know that nothing can compare to the trauma the boys went through, but I hope they appreciate that five years is the very least they will serve."
In a speech on Friday David Cameron will use the example of the boys and their attack as indicative of Britain's "social recession".
Children's secretary Ed Balls described the case as "exceptional".
"My response is the same as mums and dad around the country," he told Sky News.
"This is a terrible act and it's hard to comprehend how children could do this to one another."