Gang of four found guilty of manslaughter

A gang of four have been found guilty of beating barman David Morley to death in a random brutal assault.

Reece Sargeant, 21, Darren Case, 18, and David Blenman, 17, were all given sentences of 12 years for the attack which took place in London's South Bank area on 30 October 2004. Chelsea O'Mahoney, 16, was sentenced to eight years for her part in the attack.

It emerged that O'Mahoney had also taken part in kicking Mr Morley's head "like a football".

As well as killing Mr Morley, the gang punched and kicked eight other victims on the same night in a spree of so-called "happy slapping" attacks.

Some of the attacks were reportedly recorded on their mobile phones, but no evidence of this was ever found.

Mr Morley, 37, from Chiswich, west London, was very popular in the area and had survived the Soho nail bomb attack in 1999. The killing sparked widespread grief from many gay communities, who called for more protection at the time of the assault.

The judge said the gang had "sought enjoyment from humiliation and pleasure from the infliction of pain."

A post-mortem revealed Mr Morley had suffered 44 injuries from the beating, including a ruptured spleen and five fractured ribs.

The four were told they would each have to serve two-thirds of their sentences before being released on licence for the remainder of their time.

(CD)