Gang smile in court as they are jailed for killing homeowner who caught them burgling

Mark Witherall, 47, was kicked and stamped to death after he found the gang burgling his house.

A judge said they had turned on their victim "like a pack of hyenas."

There was applause in the public gallery of Maidstone Crown Court as the three were led away to start their sentences.

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Mark Elliott, Curtis Delima and Gerry Cusden were likened to a 'pack of hyenas'

Curtis Delima, 19, 21-year- old Mark Elliott and Gerry Cusden, 16 - all from Whitstable, Kent - had been found guilty of murdering Mr Witherall last month following a nine-week trial.

They had embarked on a day-long session of drinking and taking drugs before going to a party where they stole the keys to Mr Witherall's home from his girlfriend's handbag.

High on a cocktail of vodka, alcopops and cannabis, they killed their defenceless victim on January 27 last year after he caught them trying to burgle his home in Whitstable.

As he lay dying outside, the three returned to the house to steal his belongings.

Mr Witherall, a builder, suffered massive internal bleeding in the attack. He died of his injuries in hospital on March 7 after spending more than five weeks on a life-support machine.

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Delima was jailed for a minimum of 20 years, Elliott 23 years and Cusden 16 years.

Sentencing them, Judge Timothy Pontius said: "The three of you intended to hurt Mark Witherall very badly, as together you kicked and stamped on him as he lay utterly defenceless on the ground.

"The fatal injuries were by repeated blows with feet, not heavily shod but wearing trainers, a fact which underlines the savagery and force behind those kicks, leading to massive internal bleeding.

"It's difficult to understand what can possibly motivate three young men - one then a youth of only 15 - to not only take advantage of a woman's condition through drink by stealing her keys and setting off to let themselves into her house with the specific intention of stealing from it.

"But also, when disturbed by her partner inside the house and chased out by him, to turn on the unfortunate man and to attack him with fists and feet, with such sustained and merciless ferocity that medical skill was unable to save his life."

The judge added: "One of the more depressing and thoroughly distasteful aspects of this case was the way all three of you, realising the extent to which the evidence implicated you in Mark Witherall's death, sought to wriggle out of your responsibility by heaping blame on co-defendants.

"Fortunately, a sensible, fair minded and conscientious jury was not to be fooled by such cowardly tactics."

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Michelle Witherall and daughter Carli outside Maidstone Crown Court

The judge lifted an order which had protected Cusden's identity, saying it was in the public's interest to know who he was.

During the trial the jury was told the killers had been drinking all day and taking drugs before they went to a party at a friend's house.

Mr Witherall's partner Sally George, 47, was also there. They took her house keys from her handbag and decided to let themselves into her home to steal anything they could find.

They had not expected to be disturbed but Mr Witherall, who had been asleep in the house, woke up and chased them from the property.

As they ran from the house Elliott picked up a spirit level which he passed to Delima, who used it to hit Mr Witherall in the face.

He collapsed outside his endofterrace home before the youths kicked him and stamped on him.

The fatal attack was partly captured on a neighbour's CCTV camera. The device was pointing the wrong way to record images, but it did pick up the killers' voices as they attacked him.

The tape was played during the trial. At one stage they could be heard egging each other on and laughing and sniggering before they decided to re-enter his home to continue their burglary as he lay dying in the street.

The gang stole a DVD player, tools, a Sony PlayStation, a stereo system and a mobile phone. Sentencesfor a second offence of conspiracy to commit burglary were included in their overall sentences.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Witherall's ex-wife Michelle, 38 - who has a ten-year-old daughter and an eight-year-old son with him - said: 'The sentences were fair and I hope they rot in jail.

"Now we can move on and rebuild our lives and get a normal life for the children."

Mr Witherall also had a 30-yearold daughter from another relationship.

His 74-year-old father, also called Mark, said: "None of the three lads seems able to comprehend what they have done.

"I couldn't tell you what I think of them. The family feel that justice has been done, though."