Schoolboys boasted to their friends after kicking blind father of five to death

Lewis Barlow and Leon Gray, who were 14 at the time, walked off boasting about what they had done, joking about a possible jail sentence and saying they had gone ahead with the attack to avoid "looking stupid" in front of their friends.

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Their victim Colin Greenwood, 45, was registered blind but refused to carry a white stick because he had been attacked before and feared it would attract the attention of yobs.

The teenagers, who were convicted of murder last month, were ordered to be detained indefinitely yesterday by a judge at Sheffield Crown Court.

Judge Alan Goldsack, QC, said they would serve a minimum of 12 and a half years before they could be considered for release.

He blamed the extreme violence on the way the youngsters had been brought up amid "dysfunctional families" on a notorious housing estate in Sheffield with high levels of crime.

The Recorder of Sheffield described the pair as "out of control, amoral and prepared to use gratuitous and mindless violence on vulnerable people."

Mr Greenwood, whose children are aged between four and 11, was heading home to Southey Green, Sheffield, when he was set upon in April this year.

The boys began by teasing Mr Greenwood, who had a drink problem, pretending to punch him and threatening to stab him with a penknife.

When Mr Greenwood kicked out in retaliation, Barlow and Gray launched into a sustained and vicious attack which left Mr Greenwood cowering with fear and shouting "no" as the blows rained on him.

Barlow punched the victim to the ground then kicked his forehead as he tried to get up, a blow which caused his head to bounce off the pavement.

Witnesses said they were effectively "boasting about what they had done" afterwards.

One of them was overheard saying he would get "between eight and 15 years" for "stomping" on his head. Mr Greenwood got unsteadily to his feet.

He rejected an ambulance and was helped on to a tram. He got off at the next stop and appeared to be recovering.

Witness Lisa Collier said: "His speech seemed all right. He was calm and quiet. He had tears in his eyes."

Mr Greenwood caught a bus towards his home but collapsed as he got off and a passer-by called an ambulance.

He died in hospital the next day following a build-up of blood on his brain caused by a head injury. He also had fractured ribs consistent with a kicking.

Barlow and Gray, now 15, come from an estate in the Winn Gardens area of Sheffield. Barlow is from a family of eight children, which had social services involvement since he was born, the court heard.

His parents split up and he been in trouble with the police before.

Following his arrest over Mr Greenwood's death, his father tried to get him to mislead the police.

He admitted kicking and stamping on Mr Greenwood, insisting: "I just wanted to have a fight with him, not cause him serious harm."

Gray's mother had used hard drugs during her pregnancy and he had witnessed much domestic violence in his early years, the court was told. He had been expelled from mainstream education.

He told the court he kicked Mr Greenwood in the face and went along with the attack because he thought it was a joke.

"I thought I would look stupid if I didn't kick him because two guys I know from the estate were there," he said.

The judge awarded a 14-year-old girl witness £500 from public funds for helping police identify the killers.