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28/03/2008
Teen Found Guilty Of Goth Murder
A 15-year-old boy has been found guilty of the murder of a young woman who was killed for dressing like a Goth.
Brendan Harris was found guilty of the murder of Sophie Lancaster, 20, in Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Lancashire, last August.
Following the verdict at Preston Crown Court, Judge Anthony Russell QC lifted an order banning identification of Harris and 16-year-old Ryan Herbert, who had already pleaded guilty to murder earlier.
Both Harris and Herbert had pleaded guilty to assaulting Sophie's boyfriend Robert Maltby, 21, who survived the attack.
Three other males, two aged 17 and one aged 16, also pleaded guilty to the assault charge. They still cannot be named.
The judge said that Harris and Herbert would be sentenced to life, but that the tariffs would be set on April 28 after reading pre-sentence reports.
Sophie and Robert were attacked by a gang in the park on August 10 last year. The court heard how they were targeted by a gang of teenagers simply because they looked different.
Robert was attacked first and the court heard how the gang then turned on Sophie as she pleaded with them to stop the attack.
Paramedics said that the assault was one of the worst they had ever seen and the court heard how the facial injuries suffered by the couple were so severe that initially they unable to determine if they male or female.
Sophie died in hospital two weeks after the attack.
(KMcA/JM)
Brendan Harris was found guilty of the murder of Sophie Lancaster, 20, in Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Lancashire, last August.
Following the verdict at Preston Crown Court, Judge Anthony Russell QC lifted an order banning identification of Harris and 16-year-old Ryan Herbert, who had already pleaded guilty to murder earlier.
Both Harris and Herbert had pleaded guilty to assaulting Sophie's boyfriend Robert Maltby, 21, who survived the attack.
Three other males, two aged 17 and one aged 16, also pleaded guilty to the assault charge. They still cannot be named.
The judge said that Harris and Herbert would be sentenced to life, but that the tariffs would be set on April 28 after reading pre-sentence reports.
Sophie and Robert were attacked by a gang in the park on August 10 last year. The court heard how they were targeted by a gang of teenagers simply because they looked different.
Robert was attacked first and the court heard how the gang then turned on Sophie as she pleaded with them to stop the attack.
Paramedics said that the assault was one of the worst they had ever seen and the court heard how the facial injuries suffered by the couple were so severe that initially they unable to determine if they male or female.
Sophie died in hospital two weeks after the attack.
(KMcA/JM)
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A 16-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to the murder of a 20-year-old woman who was attacked in a Lancashire Park last year, at Preston Crown Court today. The youth admitted to the murder of Sophie Lancaster and attacking her boyfriend Robert Maltby on August 11, last year.
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Men jailed for British couple's murder
Two Venezuelan men have been jailed for a total of 96 years for the kidnap and murder of a British couple in Spain. Jorge Real Sierra, 56, and his brother-in-law Juan Antonio Velazquez, 40, were found guilty of the murder of Anthony and Linda O'Malley, from Llangollen, north Wales, at a court in Alicante, Spain.
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Ten Jailed Over £36m Drug Smuggling Plot
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Ten Jailed Over £36m Drug Smuggling Plot
Ten men convicted of attempting to smuggle drugs worth £36 million into Britain in a rusty tugboat, have been jailed. The smugglers – including British criminals and members of a Serbian gang – were caught trying to flood the UK with 12.5 tonnes of cannabis resin, following a surveillance operation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca).
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