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Kane Price, 15, and Ashley Farrow, 18, sentenced for attack Kane Price, 15, and Ashley Farrow, 18, detained for homeless man attack
(about 2 hours later)
Two teenagers have been given custodial sentences at Cardiff Crown Court for beating a homeless man because they "didn't value his life". Two teenagers who carried out a savage and premeditated attack on a sleeping homeless man have received custodial sentences.
Kane Price, 15, and Ashley Farrow, 18, used a wooden chair leg to beat Vladimirs Kazlausks, 54, who was sleeping rough in a Newport underpass. Kane Price, 15, and Ashley Farrow, 18, both from Newport, left Vladimir Kazlausks for dead after the 54-year-old was repeatedly hit over the head.
They were found guilty of grievous bodily harm by a jury last month. Both were found guilty of grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent at Cardiff Crown Court.
Price, was sent to a young offenders institute for seven-and-a-half years. Farrow was sentenced to six years. Price will serve seven years and Farrow six at a young offenders' institution.
The teenagers would normally be entitled to anonymity because of their age, but Judge Robert Jay identified them because of the ferocity of their attack. The court heard how Mr Kazlausks, originally from Latvia, was brutally attacked by the teenagers on 8 May 2012 in an underground service road in Newport known as "junkies' tunnel" where he had been sleeping rough.
He said: "You treated your victim as beneath contempt - both show a worrying complete lack of human empathy. He was beaten around the head with a wooden table leg damaging one of his eye sockets so badly that it altered the position of his eyeball. He also suffered multiple facial fractures.
"You both know what you did that evening - although you are continuing to deny it. Doctors at the city's Royal Gwent Hospital said his injuries were similar to those suffered by car crash victims and he was put into an induced a coma and placed on life support.
"The victim was completely helpless and couldn't have found himself in a more exposed position. Mr Kazlausks has lost the sight in one of his eyes.
"You both regarded him as easy game but the law treats everyone as being equally deserving of respect and dignity." During their trial, the court heard how both Price and Farrow had tried to blame each other for the attack.
He added: "The victim was left for dead. You thought he might be dead and he certainly might've died." But prosecutor Michael Jones told the court how Price was spotted on CCTV after the attack re-enacting the crime to friends.
Price, who led the attack, had only just turned 15 when he beat Latvian-born Mr Kazlausks into a coma with a wooden chair leg in May, and Farrow was 17. The court heard he told friends: "I feel high. I feel on top of the world. I want to do it again."
Prosecutor Michael Jones said: "It was a brutal and gratuitous attack by two young boys on a vulnerable homeless man. Farrow also bragged to his friends about how he and his friend had killed a man after hitting him "40 times", the jury heard.
"With repeated use of a wooden chair leg they tried to kill him and left him for dead. Mr Kazlausks' blood was found on Farrow's shoe, and Price was seen with blood on his face and tracksuit top sleeve afterwards.
"They didn't value his life." Both Price and Farrow had claimed the evidence got there because they had seen a friend carrying out the crime but were too "shocked" and "frightened" to intervene.
Mr Kazlausks was left in a coma for a week with multiple face fractures, but survived. However he has lost the sight in one of his eyes. But, Mr Justice Jay said forensic evidence showed Price was the ringleader and had hit Mr Kazlausks over the head with a wooden table leg.
The court heard his attackers later boasted about what they had done. "I am also satisfied that that this attack was not a spur of the moment (decision)," the judge said.
Det Insp Justin O'Keeffe, of Gwent Police, said: "These two teenagers preyed on the vulnerability of a man living in Newport and beat him severely in this horrendous attack, without any thought of consequences. "Ashley Farrow, although your involvement was lesser, everything points to this being committed to this enterprise.
"Not only did they cause extensive injuries to the victim, but they also acted with no thought of what cost their actions had on their own future or the lives of their families." 'No genuine remorse'
"Kane Price... you lied to the jury on a truly epic scale."
He said both defendants had shown a lack of human empathy.
"I have struggled to work out what your motivation for the attack, it is beyond the scope of this court's investigation.
"Your only mitigation is your age. There has been no genuine remorse from either of you," he added.
A pre-sentence report said there was a "very high risk" of Price causing "serious harm to others" if his poor behaviour was not tackled.
The judge also said the injuries sustained by Mr Kazlausks could have easily proved fatal.
"I have to say that they (the injuries) were sufficient enough to cause a fatal injury and you both were aware of that," he added.
"Putting it bluntly, the victim was left for dead - you thought that he might be dead."
'Dangerous'
Both teenagers will only be eligible for parole after two-thirds of their detention had passed.
The judge also overturned an order which banned Price's identity being revealed, because it was in the public interest.
Following sentencing, Det Insp Justin O'Keefe from Gwent Police said: "These two teenagers preyed on the vulnerability of a man living in Newport and beat him severely in this horrendous attack, without any thought of consequences."