Two baby-faced killers who battered a man to death in an alleyway before taking pictures of his dead body to show off to pals at a house party were today jailed for life.
Twisted teenagers Shylon Wishart, 19, and James Cartwright, 18, launched an unprovoked attack on 23-year-old Shane Watson after he left a nightclub on July 27 last year.
The pair – who were high on drugs and alcohol – approached Mr Watson in the street and asked him for a cigarette at around 2am.
But when Mr Watson told them he didn’t smoke, Wishart and Cartwright punched him to the ground before repeatedly stamping on his face and leaving him for dead in an alleyway.
They then took pictures of his lifeless body on their phones and URINATED on him before extinguishing a cigarette in his mouth.
Mr Watson’s partner Kelly Handley, who had been out at a nearby nightclub, rang him when she lost contact with him.
Another man answered the phone and chillingly taunted her by saying Mr Watson had been “dealt with” before hanging up.
She went to Mr Watson’s home in Sedgley, West Mids., and told his mother Jane that she couldn’t find him.
The pair then went out to look for him and eventually found him lying in the alleyway, his face swollen beyond recognition and covered in blood.
While they waited for emergency services to arrive, Kelly and Jane frantically tried to resuscitate him.
He was taken to hospital where he died shortly after 4am as a result of his severe head injuries.
Murder detectives arrested Cartwright and Wishart within hours at their respective homes on the afternoon of 28 July.
They discovered the sadistic duo had boasted about the murder at a party later that night and showed off the shocking photographs they had taken on their phones.
Cartwright pleaded guilty to murder earlier this year and Wishart was found guilty after a seven day trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court last month.
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Today they pair showed no emotion as they were both jailed for life.
Wishart was told he must serve a minimum of 16 years while Cartwright must serve at least 13 years.
Sentencing Judge John Warner at Wolverhampton Crown Court said: “Mr Watson suffered considerably before he died.
“His partner was taunted in the most cruel way and humiliating and degrading photographs of him were taken and shown to others.”
Detective Inspector Nigel Harrison, from West Midlands Police, said after the case: “We are pleased with today’s sentences and we hope the family can have some sense of closure following their terrible loss.
“The community was shocked and dumbfounded by the circumstances around Shane’s death.
“We will never know the reason why Wishart and Cartwright attacked Shane on that night but we do know that they boasted about this vicious attack to party-goers later that night.”
In a statement issued through police Shane’s parents Jane and Steven Watson paid tribute to their son.
They said: “Shane was a fun loving, family orientated man.
“He always acted as a peacemaker and would actively avoid trouble and do his best to calm situations down.
“His life revolved around his extended family, friends and looking after everyone.
“I struggle to put into words the scene that I was faced with when I saw Shane lying by himself in the alleyway.
“It would be any mother’s worst nightmare but it is a reality for me.
“I relive the images in my head everyday and cannot erase the painful memory of seeing Shane and hearing the voices of the people responsible for such a nasty, cruel and degrading attack.
“The people responsible took his dignity, his life and my only son.
“We both idolised Shane, he was the single most important person in our lives and to see him so badly hurt has devastated us beyond words.”
These two killers have to be put down like dogs. Give them a lethal injection, and take them out of the gene pool. No need to waste time and money on them. A quick shot to the head, and incinerate their bodies in the night. Let’s not get emotional about it. They have taken an innocent man’s life, and they deserve to have theirs taken away.