Gang thugs jailed for torment that turned to murder

A man aged 21 and a 16-year-old boy who kicked and punched a mild- mannered teenager to death in his own front garden were jailed for murder yesterday.

Birmingham Crown Court was told that 19-year-old Anthony Erskine walked out of the family home in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, in January, to act as peacemaker and talk to local youths who had been harassing his family and abusing his father.

But the quiet young man was met by a volley of punches and kicks from Mark Hemmens, aged 21, and Damian Collins, 16.

The blows and kicks left the seven-and-a-half-stone teenager lying unconscious and the brutal assault continued as he lay on the ground, causing him to choke on his own blood.

The jury of seven women and five men took eight and a half hours to return majority verdicts on both defendants of guilty to the charge of murder. The majority in both cases was 10-2.

The 10-day trial had been told that on the evening of 3 January, Mr Erskine's 53-year-old father Harry was walking home from work at the local cannery when he came across Hemmens standing with other youths on a street corner.

Hemmens, who smelt of alcohol, verbally abused Mr Erskine, telling him "I hate your guts, Erskine. What are you doing to do about it?"

Mr Erskine senior told the court in evidence that such abuse was just another example of a sustained campaign against his family by local youths, including an earlier incident in September last year when Hemmens had threatened to smash the windows of the family home and damage their car.

Hemmens and Collins admitted to police they were part of a gang which picked on Anthony and his twin brother, Ian, and had directed abuse at other members of the family, including another brother, Gary, 23, his sister Natalie, 18, and their mother, Dorothy, 47.

After returning home, Mr Erskine mentioned the trouble to his son who left the house saying he was going to "talk to them and sort it out". The jury was told that Hemmens pushed the slightly built Mr Erskine backwards and the pair rained down blows as he tried to curl up into a ball to protect his head and groin.

His father, who was standing just feet away, said the two treated his son's head like a football. Within two minutes they had fled, leaving Mr Erskine dead on the lawn.

The pair went to Shipston-on-Stour, 12 miles away, where they hoped to be hidden by friends, but were forced to return to Stratford on foot and were later found by police hiding in the loft of a house.

Both admitted they had been involved in the violence but denied an intention to kill.

Hemmens, of Stratford, held his head in his hands and fought back tears as the murder verdicts were delivered. Collins mouthed "No way" and shouted to his grandmother "Don't worry" before being led away.

Jailing Hemmens for life, and ordering Collins to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, Mr Justice Keene said: "It was a vicious and cowardly attack - the two of you against one. The worst of the violence was inflicted whilst he was lying quite helpless on the ground."

The judge said he was satisfied that it was Collins who had kicked Mr Erskine repeatedly in the head.

After the case, Mrs Erskine said: "My son has got justice. I am pleased. But my son is dead and two more lives have been ruined. It doesn't solve anything." She told reporters that in 1988 she had launched a petition to deal with local hooligans but said she now wondered if Anthony would still be alive if she had not done so.

"Sometimes I wonder if I had kept my mouth shut would my son still be alive. I don't know what I feel any more. All I know is that had we moved out of the house would he still be alive?

"This is not the end but another chapter in a terrible nightmare. We can not look forward to the future with any confidence. There have been threats since my son died. The harassment has not stopped."