Court shocked by footage of brothers’ attack on boys

THE families of two young boys who were viciously attacked by two brothers gasped and sobbed yesterday as mobile phone footage of part of the horrific attack was played in court.

The 20-second video, taken by one the brothers, who were aged 10 and 11 at the time, showed his sibling taunting and hitting one of his victims as he lay on the ground covered in blood.

Family members of the two victims, who were then aged nine and 11, broke down in tears and there were audible gasps from the public gallery as the film was played to Sheffield Crown Court.

In contrast, the two brothers, who sat smartly dressed at the back of the court room flanked by care workers, showed no emotion.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Keith began a three-day sentencing exercise after the brothers, now aged 11 and 12, admitted a number of charges in connection with the attack in Edlington, South Yorkshire, last April.

Shocking details of the brothers’ crimes were read to the court yesterday by prosecution barrister Nicholas Campbell QC.

The court heard how the brothers repeatedly threatened to kill the two young boys throughout the 90-minute ordeal in which they were strangled, burnt, punched, stamped on and hit with sticks.

At one point, a piece of ceramic sink was dropped on to the older boy’s head and a lit cigarette was extinguished in a deep wound inflicted on the younger boy’s arm using a sharpened stick.

The brothers ran broken glass across the throats of the two victims, forced them to eat nettles and dirt and threw and dropped bricks and stones on them.

The boys were forced to strip naked and were gagged with their own socks before being made to carry out sex acts upon each other.

During the attack, the older brother stole a mobile phone from the younger boy and filmed his sibling attacking the older boy.

The attack, on April 4 last year, began after the brothers lured the two boys from a recreation ground with the false promise of showing them a dead fox. They then took the boys to a series of more isolated areas and subjected them to the attack.

Last September the brothers admitted causing their victims grievous bodily harm with intent. They denied attempted murder, but the prosecution accepted their pleas and said there would be no trial.

The brothers also admitted causing another 11-year-old actual bodily harm a week before the young boys were attacked.

The hearing was later adjourned until today.