Life sentences for teen killers

Tyrone Clarke was stabbed to death in Leeds

A mother has been led screaming from court after four men were given life sentences for the killing of her son.

Islamur Rahman, 21, was given a minimum term of 12 years, Anjum Amin and Kamer Akram, both 22, a minimum of 11 and Liaquat Ali, 17, a minimum of nine.

They were sentenced for the murder of Tyrone Clarke, 16, who died after being attacked by a mob of up to 20 youths in Beeston, Leeds, in April 2004.

After the hearing police kept rival groups apart outside Leeds Crown Court.

Tyrone, who was of mixed race, was stabbed three times as he and his friend Raffael Lovick, 18, were chased by a group of Asian youths.

They attacked a defenceless young man showing him not a shred of mercy or compassion Det Ch Supt Chris Gregg

The gang cornered Tyrone in Brett Gardens, Beeston, and attacked him with makeshift weapons, including baseball bats, poles and planks of wood.

The judge said he did not consider it had been a racial attack. The court had heard it was probable none of the four had struck the fatal blow.

All four men were found guilty of murder at an earlier hearing.

Tyrone's mother Lorraine Fraser shouted from the public gallery: "No, no, my son died. You've ruined my life and my daughter's."

Not enough

Outside court, Ms Fraser said: "I can understand the judge's ruling but, from my point of view, as a mother, how emotional this has been for me and my family, Tyrone's friends and the Beeston community, we feel that the sentence they got, the years, was not enough.

"They should have had a minimum of 15, 20 years for what they done."

Det Ch Supt Chris Gregg, of West Yorkshire Police said: "The men convicted of Tryone's murder acted in the most cowardly of ways, forming a large gang and arming themselves with an array of weapons.

"They attacked a defenceless young man showing him not a shred of mercy or compassion."