EIGHT teenagers were today behind bars for their part in a “frenzied assault” which left a young chef fighting for his life.
Craig Rooney, 18, was savagely beaten after going to Sherdley Park, in St Helens, with friends to fly a remote-controlled helicopter on May 22.
He was set upon by a gang of teenagers who, Liverpool Crown Court heard, attacked him like a “pack of animals”.
The teenager was punched to the ground, where he was kicked, stamped and spat on as he lay bleeding and frothing at the mouth.
Dale Croft, 17, of Eltonhead Road; Nicola Carolan, 17, of Milton Street; Kayley McMahon, 17, of Legion Road; Jodie Dean, 17, of Millersdale, Clock Face; Jonathan Gleave, 17, of Springfield Close; and Natasha Parr, 16, of Prenton Avenue, all St Helens, were found guilty earlier this month of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent. Jurors also convicted Croft, Parr and Dean of violent disorder, while Gleave, McMahon and Carolan had already admitted the same offence.
James Michael Ellison, 18, of North Street, and Stephen Francis, 18, of Hampstead Close, both St Helens, had pleaded guilty to wounding and violent disorder.
Francis also admitted causing GBH with intent.
At court yesterday, Judge David Aubrey sentenced Croft and Gleave to six years; Carolan, McMahon, Dean and Parr to five years; Ellison to five years and eight months; and Francis to five years and seven months, all in young offenders’ institutes.
Mr Rooney, a trainee mechanical engineer and part-time chef, spent nearly three weeks in intensive care with a severe brain injury after the attack, which Judge Aubrey described as “gratuitous, frenzied and sustained”.
He said: “No sentence can compensate for Mr Rooney’s grave injuries or console the family.”
He told the defendants: “I have no doubt whatsoever these events will live on in your minds and memories.”
A 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also admitted violent disorder and was given a two-year supervision order.
Another 17-year-old, who also cannot be named, was convicted of violent disorder and sentenced to 240 hours’ community service and a community order.
