"£5 bet murder" conviction

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2008-01-23 06:15am

Once again showing there's no depths to human depravity, here's hoping they're kept away forever.

A teenager has been convicted of the murder of a disabled man who was kicked to death by a gang "for sport".

Brent Martin, 23, who had learning difficulties, died in hospital after being found in a pool of blood on Sunderland's Town End Farm estate.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named, and two others beat their victim in a £5 bet over who could knock him out, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

William Hughes, 21, and a youth, aged 16, had already admitted murder.

The teenagers, who trained as boxers, repeatedly punched, kicked, stamped on and head-butted their victim.

A post-mortem examination revealed Mr Martin died from a massive head injury and had suffered at least 18 separate blows to the head and neck.

During his trial, the court heard that the 17-year-old defendant later told witnesses: "I am not going down for a muppet."

The court heard how Mr Martin was chased for a mile and a half across two estates in Sunderland and subjected to a series of brutal assaults.

Finally he was stripped of his trousers and pants and left dying in a pool of blood next to a parked car in Baxter Road, Town End Farm, as his attackers posed for photos.

Toby Hedworth QC, prosecuting, said the gang acted like "a pack of animals" during the attacks on their vulnerable victim, who had spent nine years of his life in psychiatric hospitals."

Judge John Mitford said he had asked Northumbria Police to supply figures for the number of murders in the force area over the past 10 years.

He said: "I'm particularly interested in the growing trend where defendants are getting younger and younger."

Mr Hedworth added: "As the attack went on, its nature, ferocity and perseverance made it quite clear they were not happy until he was dead."

Mr Martin's mother Brenda said her son was dead because he did not fight back.

She said: "He had such an impish smile and thought everyone was his friend.

"He spent eight years in hospital and was very short-sighted and had a lot to learn and cope with, with his disabilities.

"He was very pleased to come out of hospital and see the lads - but things had changed.

"He was a gentle giant and they thought he was a simpleton.

"He was vulnerable and they thought he was soft - he did not retaliate - if he had he would be here today."

Life sentence

The jury of eight men and four women took four hours to convict the teenager, who sat emotionless as he was found guilty.

Judge John Milford QC warned the defendant and his two co-accused, who were not in court, they faced a mandatory life sentence.

Sentencing will take place at a later date.

The mother of the 16-year-old has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice by washing her son's bloodstained clothes.

No date has yet been set for her trial.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2008-01-23 06:20am

Lock em up and trow away the key. Fucking sociopath pricks

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2008-01-23 06:30am

I forgot the link: BBC

Post by **Surlethe** » 2008-01-23 08:23am

Toby Hedworth QC, prosecuting, said the gang acted like "a pack of animals" during the attacks on their vulnerable victim, who had spent nine years of his life in psychiatric hospitals."

Big surprise there -- we are animals, and every society would do well to bear in mind that human nature hasn't changed though civilization restrains the worst elements. As for the murdurous little bastards? Lose the key, and society will lose nothing.

NoXion · Post by **NoXion** » 2008-01-23 11:08am

How can anybody's moral compass be so broken as to even consider doing such a thing as this? I just find the mindset behind such acts to be completely alien.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2008-01-23 11:27am

The mother of the 16-year-old has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice by washing her son's bloodstained clothes.

As others have already summed up my feelings on the rest of the case, I'll leave that be...but this just struck me. What the howling, flying fuck? You don't get blood presumably splattered all over yourself in the process of skinning your knee or some such....stupid bitch either didn't think about what could have caused it, or figured and didn't care.

The Grim Squeaker · Post by **The Grim Squeaker** » 2008-01-23 11:49am

"He spent eight years in hospital and was very short-sighted and had a lot to learn and cope with, with his disabilities.

"He was very pleased to come out of hospital and see the lads - but things had changed.

"He was a gentle giant and they thought he was a simpleton.

During his trial, the court heard that the 17-year-old defendant later told witnesses: "I am not going down for a muppet."

. Fucking disgusting.

article wrote: He said: "I'm particularly interested in the growing trend where defendants are getting younger and younger."

Hasn't this been going on for, well, most of the past few centuries/decades, with younger ages in the further past?

Jadeite · Post by **Jadeite** » 2008-01-23 12:28pm

Shoot them.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2008-01-23 12:41pm

They might make good recruits for the French Foreign Legion. If they survive their training they'll make excellent meat for a suicide mission

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2008-01-23 12:44pm

White Haven wrote:
The mother of the 16-year-old has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice by washing her son's bloodstained clothes.
As others have already summed up my feelings on the rest of the case, I'll leave that be...but this just struck me. What the howling, flying fuck? You don't get blood presumably splattered all over yourself in the process of skinning your knee or some such....stupid bitch either didn't think about what could have caused it, or figured and didn't care.

Either she is an idiot or the apple doesnt rot far from the tree

RIPP_n_WIPE · Post by **RIPP_n_WIPE** » 2008-01-23 12:58pm

Jadeite wrote:Shoot them.

Ah ah, the proper term is "euthanize".

Either way, a quick $500 bucks on a some rounds or injection rather than years of food and care for shit wads.

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2008-01-23 01:12pm

Given what the mother did, I'm willing to bet "I'm not going to die for a muppet" is a pithy saying coming from his parents. This is what happens when you push your children in the wrong way, "don't end up like useless homeless" or "welfare is for the useless" or "don't do the special olympics." This happens in Japan too, beating up hobos, and their parents push their children to the extreme.

You don't need a broken moral compass. All you need is to dehumanize certain types of people, then surprise surprise kids won't think of them as human and attack them like they squash bugs.

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2008-01-23 02:24pm

So far, I'm not seeing any bullshit from political/religious leaders blaming the media, liberals, foreigners, or other scapegoats for the murderers' behavior. Here's hoping they'll keep their mouths shut.

wjs7744 · Post by **wjs7744** » 2008-01-23 02:28pm

Surlethe wrote:Lose the key, and society will lose nothing.

Except for years of taxpayer's money.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2008-01-23 02:47pm

NoXion wrote:How can anybody's moral compass be so broken as to even consider doing such a thing as this? I just find the mindset behind such acts to be completely alien.

As Surlethe said we are still animals. The average man has not changed since he lived in caves or watched gladiators fight to death. Joe public is packaged in in a different set of clothes today but the contents are still same. There should not be any surprise when incidents like these happen from time to time.

chitoryu12 · Post by **chitoryu12** » 2008-01-23 05:27pm

Alyrium Denryle wrote:
White Haven wrote:
The mother of the 16-year-old has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice by washing her son's bloodstained clothes.
As others have already summed up my feelings on the rest of the case, I'll leave that be...but this just struck me. What the howling, flying fuck? You don't get blood presumably splattered all over yourself in the process of skinning your knee or some such....stupid bitch either didn't think about what could have caused it, or figured and didn't care.
Either she is an idiot or the apple doesnt rot far from the tree

My guess is the latter. I do not know a single person, especially a mother, who would find little to nothing suspicious about a teenager walking around looking like an extra from Dead Alive. He likely has a history of violent, assholish shit in his life, and his mother likely has a history of covering it up or simply ignoring it. It probably took a bit of time to get up to the "murder" stage.

NoXion · Post by **NoXion** » 2008-01-23 05:44pm

Sarevok wrote:As Surlethe said we are still animals. The average man has not changed since he lived in caves or watched gladiators fight to death. Joe public is packaged in in a different set of clothes today but the contents are still same. There should not be any surprise when incidents like these happen from time to time.

If that's true, then I'm scared, depressed and hugely disappointed all at the same time, because that makes me the aberration, the one who thinks that one's animal urges should repressed and let reason guide my behaviour as much as I possibly can. True, on the very rare occasion I have felt like I could possibly murder someone, usually because that someone is a morally vacuous scumbag that world would not miss, but I have never considered acting on those feelings, not even once.

I like to consider myself an intensely moral being, and it's disgusting when I come across someone that doesn't bother pretending to care. How can they live with themselves?

What did I do right, and why do too many people (in my opinion) seem to missed out on something that seems so damn obvious to me?

I accept that humans are not perfect beings and likely will never be so but the sheer magnitude of "wrongness" bothers me.

Sorry to go off on a rant, but this really gets to me.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2008-01-23 07:25pm

Surlethe wrote:
Toby Hedworth QC, prosecuting, said the gang acted like "a pack of animals" during the attacks on their vulnerable victim, who had spent nine years of his life in psychiatric hospitals."
Big surprise there -- we are animals, and every society would do well to bear in mind that human nature hasn't changed though civilization restrains the worst elements. As for the murdurous little bastards? Lose the key, and society will lose nothing.

We are social animals, though - and we're fucking intelligent. Most people would view such an action as repugnant even without any chance of repercussions - people like that are nothing more than a cancer of the modern species.