A gang of sadistic killers have been jailed for life for their prolonged attack on a vulnerable disabled man.
Brent Martin, 23, was punched, kicked, butted and stamped on during an ordeal last August which stretched one and a half miles across the Sunderland housing estate where he lived, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The victim's family cheered as Judge John Milford jailed ringleader William Hughes, 22, from Sunderland for a minimum of 22 years, while accomplices Marcus Miller, 16, will serve at least 15 years and Stephen Bonallie, 17, at least 18.
Mr Martin was picked on by the drink-fuelled gang for "sport" after they bet each other to knock him out for £5, the court heard.
They chased their vulnerable victim around the Town End Farm estate, just three months after he was released from a psychiatric hospital where he had been staying due to his learning difficulties.
Hughes, a father of two from Washington Road, and Miller from Baxter Road, pleaded guilty to murder at a previous hearing.
Bonallie denied the charge but was convicted by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court.
Judge John Milford lifted a ban on identifying the two teenage killers, who were guilty of "sadistic conduct on an extremely vulnerable victim".
After Bonallie's trial, the judge asked Northumbria Police to compile figures on the number of homicides committed by under 21s in the past five years, compared to figures a decade ago.
Toby Hedworth QC, prosecuting, said between 1992-7 in the Northumbria Police area there were 32 homicides committed by people under 21, four by under 17s. He said between 2002-7, there were 63 homicides by under 21s, with 13 killings by under 17s in the Northumbria Police area. The judge said the figures for under 21 killings had risen by almost 100% and by under 17s by 300%.
