A pair of British children who lured two other youngsters to
a secluded area and subjected them to a horrifying catalogue
of near-fatal abuse have been sentenced to at least five
years in custody.
The attackers, 10 and 11 at the time, were convicted of
robbing, beating, and stabbing their victims with sticks and
bricks. One child, 10, had a sink thrown onto his head, while
his nephew, 9, was forced to eat nettles.
The violence included sexual degradation, Justice Brian Keith
said during the sentencing.
"What it amounted to was torture," Keith told the two boys at
the end of their lengthy sentencing hearing at Sheffield
Crown Court, in northern England.
The defendants were among the youngest people ever charged
with such a serious crime in Britain, where the age of
criminal responsibility is 10.
Though initially charged with attempted murder, prosecutors
accepted guilty pleas to a lesser charge, causing grievous
bodily harm.
The attack sparked horrified headlines and a national debate
about how children so young could inflict such violence. It
stirred memories of the death of James Bulger, a 2-year-old
abducted from a shopping centre near Liverpool in 1993 by two
10-year-olds who punched him, beat him with bricks and hit
him with an iron bar before leaving his body on a railroad
track.
Neither the victims nor the children sentenced may be
named for legal reasons.
Detectives said the attackers showed no remorse when
questioned by police. One allegedly told officers he did it
because he was bored.
Sgt Richard Vernon, who discovered the 11-year-old, said the
victims had by now recovered physically.
The attackers suffered from a "toxic home life," according to
Peter Kelson, who represents the eldest brother.
Kelson said his client watched ultra-violent films like the
Saw series, had access to pornographic DVDs, drank
cider, had 10 cigarettes a day and smoked cannabis grown on
his father's plot from the age of 9.
Many television bulletins lingered on the sign affixed to the
outside of the family's home, which read: "BEWARE OF THE
KIDS."
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