Three men who left Wairarapa man Paul Irons for dead after beating and stomping him around the head have been jailed for their "vicious, gratuitous and cowardly" attack.
Shaun Mihaka Sullivan, 26, and Rangitera Spencer Walker, 16, were jailed for life yesterday after being found guilty of murder in December.
Sullivan and Walker would serve minimum non-parole periods of 12 and 11 years respectively, The Dominion Post reported.
Andrew Dean Kupa-Caudwell, 18, the son of a Featherston police officer, received six years with a minimum non-parole period of three years for manslaughter.
Mr Irons, 36, died in hospital five days after he was set upon by the men in Featherston in the early hours of October 9, 2008.
His injuries included two fractures to his jaw, a fractured eye socket, a punctured lung and internal bleeding.
Sentencing, Justice John Wild said the attack was "vicious, gratuitous and cowardly".
Mr Iron's father, Jack, called the men cowards in his victim impact statement.
"It was the worst thing that could happen to a family."
