Two members of the gang which tortured, raped and murdered the schoolgirl Mary-Ann Leneghan have been told they will serve at least 27 years in jail

Telegraph:

Adrian Thomas, 20, of Battersea, south London, and Michael Johnson, 19, of Southfields, south London, were jailed for life today for the murder in Reading, Berkshire, last May.

Four other men involved in the killing were also due to be sentenced today at Reading Crown Court.

Earlier, Thomas's barrister had pleaded for mercy for the six because of their age, though he admitted his client's crime was "horrific".

Thomas and Johnson stood in the dock alongside brothers Jamaile and Joshua Morally, 22 and 23, Indrit Krasniqi, 19, and 24-year-old student Llewellyn Adams.

Johnson, identified as the man who stabbed Mary-Ann, pleaded guilty to the killing during a trial earlier this year as well as admitting attempting to murder Mary-Ann's friend.

The other five were all found guilty of murder and attempted murder by a jury.

Mary-Ann was murdered in a stabbing frenzy in a park in Reading, as an 18-year-old friend, with whom she had been abducted by the gang, was forced to look on.

Her friend, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was then shot in the head but survived.

Earlier in the evening the pair had been subjected to an ordeal of rape and torture involving knives, cigarettes, a metal bar and boiling sugared water.

Mr Evans told the judge, Mr Justice Penry-Davey, that his client's youth was the only significant point of mitigation he could highlight.

Speaking of his client, he added: "He was very conscious and wanted to express ... the fact that it was the drugs scene, his involvement in drugs, that resulted in these matters starting, snowballing and coming to their horrific end."

Speaking before the hearing, Mary-Ann's uncle, Charles Harris, said: "This is D-day. I hope they lock them up and throw away the key."

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