Just five years in custody

[Gazwag]

Two brothers who attacked two boys in a sadistic 90-minute ordeal of violence and sexual humiliation have been sentenced to a minimum of five years in custody.


The victims were lured to this remote spot by the brothers


The pair, who are aged 11 and 12 and who cannot be named, attacked their victims in Edlington in South Yorkshire last April.

Mr Justice Keith, sentencing at Sheffield Crown Court, described the brothers' behaviour as "appalling and terrible".

"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," he said.

The pair lured the nine and 11-year-old to a secluded spot before the torture began.

The victims - who are uncle and nephew - were strangled, hit with bricks, made to eat nettles, stripped and forced to sexually abuse each other.

The elder boy was seriously injured when pieces of a ceramic sink were dropped on his head.

The brothers had pleaded guilty to causing their victims grievous bodily harm with intent, robbery and intentionally causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

They had also admitted causing another 11-year-old actual bodily harm a week before the torture incident.

Sky's north of England correspondent Gerard Tubb said the younger offender had been described by one Britain's top psychiatrists as being in danger of becoming a "seriously disturbed psychopathic offender".

He said it was claimed the pair grew up in a "toxic homelife", witnessing serious domestic violence.

The two boys they attacked and would have killed if they had not got tired will have a lifetime of mental scars and they will be out well in time to celebrate their 18th Birthdays.

Their excuse for parents should be the next in the dock.

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

I'm no liberal, but 5 years seems quite a long time. It is though a minimum of 5 years. If they are still showing psychotic behaviour at 17 they won't be released.

I agree with you about the parents though. They should do 10 years each

 

[Kumquat]

People rarely commit this sort of crime unless they have a lifetime of mental scars themselves, hence the toxic homelife comment at the end. Just think yourself lucky you were born into a good family, if indeed you were. Instead of focusing on the two boys who did this, we should be looking at the social services and society that let them get this far.

 

[jonny.rainbow]

I'm no liberal, but 5 years seems quite a long time. It is though a minimum of 5 years. If they are still showing psychotic behaviour at 17 they won't be released.

I agree with you about the parents though. They should do 10 years each

Lock up the mother who was regular victim of savage beatings herself?

 

[Nibble]

Where do you begin to sort a mess like this. The terrible impact on the victims and family that will have repurcussions til the day they die. The question of punishment/rehab for the perpertrators, do you lock them away forever, treat their obvious defects, its a mess. As for the parents, jesus, whatever happens to them they should not be allowed children ever again. I understand the mother was abused too. A mess from beginning to end that would take years of therapy to unravel for all concerned.

 

[little al]

They will probably get expensive new ID's as well, a la Thompson and Venebles.

 

[Kumquat]

Lock up the mother who was regular victim of savage beatings herself?

exactly, well said. people need to think a bit more before they come out with the lock em up and throw away the key crap.

 

[sam86]

How can an 11 and 12 year old manage to do this to an UNCLE and nephew? One assumes the uncle was fairly old (in comparison to 11 and 12)? Have I missed something here...

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Minimum of 5 years , they might end up being detained indefinitely to protect the public.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I am not sure that this sort of behaviour suddenly happened overnight. Surely there must have been some early signs that were perhaps missed by teachers, neighbours, social services or what have you. Presumably the parents were in a good position to judge, but it seems that they were a major part of the cause and did not care enough (perhaps harsh on the mother, who is seemingly another victim in all of this).

I am not sure what sort of sentence would be appropriate. A minimum of five years will take them through to early adulthood and that will be a good time to judge to see if they are truly remorseful and no longer pose a threat.

Difficult one. The Americans are very good at locking up kids with no effort to treat them as a minor and rehabilitate. One thing is for sure, they fact that they didn't kill either of the boys should be treated as immaterial. It seems that they were very lucky to avoid causing death upon the victims.

 

[macky]

The two boys they attacked and would have killed if they had not got tired will have a lifetime of mental scars and they will be out well in time to celebrate their 18th Birthdays.

Their excuse for parents should be the next in the dock.

i think they should have been there first

 

[strings]

How can an 11 and 12 year old manage to do this to an UNCLE and nephew? One assumes the uncle was fairly old (in comparison to 11 and 12)? Have I missed something here...

The vicims were aged 9 and 11 at the time of the attack.

To answer BoF's question, the boys were well known to Social Services, according to the times: An official review of the case leaked to the BBC listed 31 separate occasions in which social services and other agencies failed to take action against the two boys, although it is not to be published in full and Mr Justice Keith was himself refused a copy of it.

 

[Nibble]

As far as the family goes I would get them all as far away from each other as possible. The combination of all of these people is obviously toxic.

 

[Nibble]

A friend of mine works in a secure unit for under 18's and some of the crimes they have commited are atrocious, okay not on the same level as this but violent rapists are the least they deal with. She says that as soon as they are away from their families or the cause of their behaviour (boyfriends, abusers etc) most of them show signs of at least trying to behave like "normal" kids. I'm not saying what these two did deserves "just a chance to be normal" but the first step is to get all concerned into an environment where not only is this kind of behaviour absalutely not tolerated but where professionals can begin to unravel the mess they have become.

 

[Rookie]

The way that piece has worded it is not precise. Have got an indefinite period with a minimum of 5 years which means if after 5 years they are still viewed as a danger to the public they will not be released and will stay behind bars until they are deemed not to be a danger if that ever happens

 

[Gazwag]

To answer BoF's question, the boys were well known to Social Services, according to the times: An official review of the case leaked to the BBC listed 31 separate occasions in which social services and other agencies failed to take action against the two boys, although it is not to be published in full and Mr Justice Keith was himself refused a copy of it.

There has to be some massive shake up with social services, either give them proper funding or employ better people, this is one in a long line of failings by them

 

[janee]

Father beeat mother and all children sadistically (often calm whilst seriously beating them with a smile on his face), Children allowed to smoke cannabis and drink from early age and to watch extreme violent and pornographic films. Have no concept of what is normal. Everybody loses in this one - especially our society.

 

[Uncle C]

I think this underpins what I have always said. That abortion for children should be available until they are 13.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

The vicims were aged 9 and 11 at the time of the attack.

To answer BoF's question, the boys were well known to Social Services, according to the times: An official review of the case leaked to the BBC listed 31 separate occasions in which social services and other agencies failed to take action against the two boys, although it is not to be published in full and Mr Justice Keith was himself refused a copy of it.

Thanks. Very sad.

Just watching the BBC News and there have been countless interviews of residents saying how feral they were and how abusive they appeared to be. One chap said that the boys used to take ducklings out of the local pond and throw them against trees - classic psychotic behaviour.

It seems they have been let down by family, social services and the collective neighbourhood. The two that have paid the biggest price for these failures are the victims of this crazed attack.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Ed Balls is saying that the professionals have failed. Why did they fail?