A pair of thugs who battered two brothers because they wrongly believed they were gay have been caged for a total of 20 years.
Paul Matthews, 26, and Adam Humphreys, 25, broke into a flat where Francis and Daniel Killeen lived and accused them of being lovers.
The pair then punched and kicked the brothers before bludgeoning them with a broom handle and an iron bar in the terrifying attack last September.
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Adam Humphreys
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Daniel suffered a fractured skull while Francis needed dozens of stitches to his face.
Matthews was jailed for 14 years after he was convicted of aggravated burglary and assault while Humphreys was caged for six years for the same offences at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Thursday.
Jailing them, Judge Granville Styler said: “In my judgment this was a revenge attack.
“You [Matthews] recruited Humphreys to teach them a lesson because you thought they were homosexual when they were brothers.
“There is high culpability because of the weapon and the location – breaking in and attacking them in the night.”
The court heard Matthews and Humphreys smashed their way into the Killeen brothers’ flat in Wolstanton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs., on September 9 last year.
Tariq Shakoor, prosecuting, said: “At about 9pm Daniel Killeen had gone outside to tell a group of people to move on and Matthews was in that group.
“He failed in his attempt and ended up inviting them into the house. The first person in was Matthews who told them his name was ‘Po’.
“Soon after he adopted a menacing attitude towards the brothers.
“He said he would ‘take over’ in Wolstanton and also presumed the brothers were homosexual as they were living together.
“He also took an interest in property including a computer.”
Matthews punched Daniel in the face and kicked Francis in the head as he went to the aid of his brother.
The thugs then left but they were later awoken in the early hours when the men returned with weapons.
Mr Shakoor added: “They [Killeen brothers] heard noises from the door as if it was being kicked in and they called the police.”
Matthews climbed in through a window clutching an iron bar while Humphreys was armed with a broom handle.
The brothers hid in a bedroom before its door was kicked from its hinges.
Mr Shakoor said: “Daniel said he was attacked by Matthews with an iron bar and was hit over the head and punched.”
Humphreys inflicted a “series of blows” on Francis with the broom handle, while Matthews stole a laptop and mobile phone.
The court heard Matthews had a string of previous convictions including a robbery which he committed when he was just 11 years old.
