Two men jailed over West Midlands pool drowning
Two men jailed in connection with death of 16-year-old Shane Owoo
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Friday, 25, Apr 2008 11:36
Two men have been jailed for five-and-a-half years each in connection with the death by drowning of 16-year-old Shane Owoo in the West Midlands.
Shane's body was recovered from the Lunt Pool clay pit in Bilston on September 30th last year.
Christopher Lewis, 22, and Marvin Walker, 21, pleaded guilty to manslaughter at an earlier hearing and were handed their sentence at Birmingham crown court today.
Tobias Davies, 22, was sentenced to 12 months in prison after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
However, as he had already served 13 months on remand, he was released immediately.
After a row over a bicycle, Shane was assaulted in the street before being "escorted" to the clay pit for a "punishment swim" on September 29th 2007.
Shane's body was recovered the following day after sticks and stones had been used to stop the youngster, described by police as "not a strong swimmer", from climbing out of the pool.
Passing sentence today, Judge Peter Coulson described Walker and Lewis' actions as "extraordinarily callous behaviour".
"This was a long and terrifying ordeal, deliberately inflicted on Shane Owoo," he added.
"Shane Owoo was not a voluntary swimmer and may have jumped into the pool, from what he was being told, out of sheer fear."
Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Simon Richards said Shane's death was the result of a "dreadful crime".
"A 16-year-old boy lost his life as a direct result of three men and their behaviour," he said.
"Shane was in that water. Nobody helped him get out and as a result he died."