Gang gets life for ‘£5 bet’ murder of disabled man

THE family of a disabled man who was murdered by a sadistic gang toasted their lengthy jail sentences with champagne on the court steps yesterday.

Vulnerable Brent Martin, 23, was punched, kicked, butted and stamped on by three youngsters whom he thought were his friends in an ordeal last August which stretched one-and-a-half miles across a Sunderland housing estate.

Judge John Milford jailed ringleader William Hughes, 22, for a minimum of 22 years, while accomplice Marcus Miller, 16, must spend at least 15 years behind bars and 17-year-old Stephen Bonallie at least 18.