Three young thugs who thought it was "a bit of fun" to attack total strangers and beat them to a pulp.

One of their victims, a cerebral palsy sufferer, was attacked with such venom he suffered a fractured skull and eye socket. For months he was fed through a tube and is still recovering in hospital.

The other man was targeted during a cycle ride. He thought he had escaped the brutes but, in a twist of fate straight from a horror film, flagged down a car for help only for the attackers to climb out of it. This time they took him to a field where they laid into him.

Both victims must have feared for their lives as they came under a hail of blows.

That is why when Judge Jonathan Durham Hall brings them back before him for sentencing in October he must wield the full weight of the law.

These are without doubt extremely dangerous individuals who it would seem, with the injuries they inflicted, are lucky not to have ended up facing murder charges.

No doubt there will be those who cast the three, two 18-year-olds and a 21-year-old as victims themselves.

Young men who lost their way and in need of direction.

The only guidance they need is in a fortified vehicle on route to prison where with any luck they will spend a good few of years of their detestable lives.