THREE teenagers have been sentenced for the manslaughter of a man in Nuneaton.
The three youngsters, who cannot be named for legal reasons, assaulted 36-year-old John Hackett as he was walking his dog in Snow Hill Recreation Ground last April.
Mr Hackett died from his injuries the following day.
Today (Thursday) the trio appeared at Warwick Crown Court for sentencing having previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
The three defendants were initially charged with murder but denied this, and the court accepted their guilty plea of manslaughter.
Before the assault, the three teenagers had subjected Mr Hackett to weeks of verbal abuse as he walked his dog through the park.
Then on April 25, after he had confronted them about their behaviour, they attacked Mr Hackett.
During the incident, the girl filmed it on her mobile phone before joining in with the violence.
Mr Hackett and a member of the public called the police, but when officers arrived the three attackers all claimed they were acting in self-defence.
The officers then went to Mr Hackett’s house where they found him in considerable distress having suffered injuries to his head and chest.
They took him to hospital, but he discharged himself two hours later and went home, where he collapsed the following morning.
He was declared dead at the scene by paramedics.
By this time, footage of the attack had been shared widely on social media and the three offenders were arrested later that day.
A Home Office postmortem found Mr Hackett had died from severe abdominal injuries described as the equivalent of being in a car crash.
A 15-year-old boy from Willencote, Staffordshire, and a 16-year-old boy from Nuneaton were both given a two-year custodial sentence.
A 16-year-old girl from Nuneaton was given an 18-month custodial sentence.
In a statement, Mr Hackett’s family said: “We are devasted by John’s passing. We have lost a much-loved son, brother, nephew, and cousin, taken from us because of a mindless act of violence.
“John was bullied and tormented for weeks leading to his tragic death.
“There isn’t a day that goes by without us thinking of John and what he went through.
“We will never be able to forgive those involved.
“All we can hope for is that they spend their time in custody with remorse and regret and that one day they realise the extent of their actions.”
DCI Collette O’Keefe from the Warwickshire Police Major Investigation Unit added: “The level of violence shown by these offenders was truly shocking and Mr Hackett must have been terrified throughout.
“Our thoughts are with his family who have understandably been left devastated by his death.
“This incident should serve as a warning to people; violence has consequences, and sometimes those consequences can be tragic.
“These three young people may not have intended to kill Mr Hackett but that is ultimately what happened, and like Mr Hackett’s family, they will live with the consequences of their actions for the rest of their lives.”
