Drunken boy, 15, kicked woman to death in park 'because she was a goth'

Sophie Lancaster, 20, cradled Robert Maltby's head in her lap and begged his laughing attackers to leave him alone after they battered him unconscious.

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But the group, "acting like a pack of wild animals", ignored her pleas and instead two of them began "savagely and mercilessly" raining down blows on her head "as though it was a football" until she fell into a coma, the court heard.

The young couple were so badly injured that paramedics, who found them lying side by side covered in blood, were unable to tell which was which.

Miss Lancaster died 13 days later without regaining consciousness.

Mr Maltby, a 21-year-old art student, suffered a fractured skull and has made only a partial recovery.

Yesterday a boy of 15, who cannot be named for legal reasons and is known only as Boy A, went on trial for Miss Lancaster's murder.

A 16-year-old boy has already pleaded guilty to the charge.

The pair and three other boys, two aged 17 and one aged 16, have admitted causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Maltby.

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Miss Lancaster's family sat in the public gallery at Preston Crown Court wiping away tears as the jury were told of the horrific nature of the attack.

The couple, from Bacup, Lancashire, were making their way through the town's Stubbylee Park shortly after midnight on August 10 last year.

They struck up a good-natured chat with a large group of teenagers and Miss Lancaster handed out cigarettes but suddenly the five teenage boys turned on Mr Maltby.

Michael Shorrock QC, prosecuting, said: "The attack was totally unprovoked.

"It would appear that Mr Maltby and Miss Lancaster were singled out, not for anything they had said or done, but because they dressed differently to the defendant and his friends.

"The reason for the attack on Robert Maltby appears to have been simply because he was what they described as a 'Goth' or 'mosher'.

"Robert was brought to the ground by punches and kicks. When on the ground kicks rained in to his head and body. His head was stamped on.

"Miss Lancaster was on her knees cradling her boyfriend's head in her lap calling for help and shouting at the defendants to leave him alone.

"Kicks and stamps to the head and body followed, the defendants goading each other on."

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At least six young witnesses, aged between 14 and 17, saw the attack. One horrified 14-year-old girl made a 999 call in an effort to get help.

A 15-year-old boy who tried to stop the attack told police: "It looked like they were running over and just kicking her in the head.

A girl said: "I started crying because I'd never seen anything like that."

Boy A admitted punching Mr Maltby but denied involvement in the attack on Miss Lancaster.

He told police: "I remember a lad shouted somebody hit him. I don't know why.

"I was drunk and showing off but I stepped forward and hit the male once. He did not fall over or even stagger. He started to laugh."

Male and female followers of the "Goth" cult typically have dyed black hair with black eye make-up and black nail varnish.

They wear black period-style clothes.

The trial continues.