Torture brothers lose legal battle over sentence appeal

The pair, who were 10 and 11 at the time of the attack, were given indeterminate sentences in January for public protection with a minimum term of five years.

They were sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court for the "appalling and terrible" assault on the victims, aged nine and 11, which took place in April last year, just days after a similar attack on another boy.

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, sitting in London with Mr Justice David Clarke and Mr Justice Lloyd Jones, rejected their applications for permission to appeal.

Lord Judge said the brothers, who cannot be named for legal reasons and who were not present at the hearing, had committed "dreadful" crimes against their victims.

During the three-day sentencing in January, High Court judge Mr Justice Keith heard the

perpetrators, now aged 11 and 12, lured their victims to a secluded spot known as the Brickponds.

They then subjected them to 90 minutes of violence and sexual humiliation in which they were choked, hit with bricks, made to eat nettles, stripped and forced to sexually abuse each other.

The older boy was seriously injured when a piece of ceramic sink was dropped on his head at the end of the attack and the younger victim was found wandering nearby drenched in blood.

The judge at Sheffield Crown Court was told the attackers watched ultra-violent movies as part of a "toxic home life" involving "routine aggression, violence and chaos".

They admitted causing their victims, who also cannot be named, grievous bodily harm with intent, robbing one of the boys of a mobile phone and the other of cash and two counts of intentionally causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Mr Justice Keith imposed concurrent sentences on all the charges they admitted and each was placed on the sex offenders register for a period of three-and-a-half years.

The appeal judges ruled that his imposition of the indeterminate sentence for public protection and the minimum term of five years were justified in what was a "highly exceptional case".