Murder trio to appeal jail terms

Jun 15 2008 by Robert Weatherall, Sunday Sun

THREE cold-blooded killers who murdered a man over a £5 bet are to appeal against their sentences.

Brent Martin was left to die in a pool of his own blood with his trousers around his ankles after being subjected to a sickening attack.

William Hughes, 21, Marcus Miller, 16, and Stephen Bonallie, 17, were all jailed for the murder of Brent. The trio attacked the 23- year-old in Town End Farm, Sunderland, in August last year.

In January, Hughes was sentenced to at least 22 years, Bonallie to at least 18 and Miller at least 15 before they could be considered for parole.

Now the attackers are set to go to the Appeal Court in a bid to have those sentences reduced. But Brent’s mum Brenda is hoping an appeal judge will increase the sentences.

Brenda, 63, who has launched a campaign for life to mean life, said: “I hope they get years added on. They should for what they did to my Brent. It’s disgusting the way they murdered him. They did such terrible things.”

The trio killed Brent as a bet between themselves to see if any of them could knock him out with a single punch.

After beating him to the ground a number of times, they continued the prolonged attack until they left Brent to die, slumped against a car in a pool of blood.