Two men jailed for life over Shrewsbury busker Ben Bebbington murder

Stewart Doran, 22, and Bradley Davies, 18, were handed the sentences at Birmingham Crown Court today for their joint role in the brutal murder of 43-year-old Ben Bebbington in September last year.

Doran, of Bainbridge Green, Harlescott, will serve a minimum term of 16 years, while Davies, of Westering, Shrewsbury, will have to serve at least 14 years before he can be considered for parole.

Judge William Davis QC said the pair had used "sustained and gratuitous violence" in the course of two attacks on Mr Bebbington which occurred within around half an hour of each other.

Four people were also sentenced for perverting the course of justice in relation to the case, including Bradley Davies's mother Janet, 47, of Westering, Shrewsbury, who was given a two-year term in prison.

Davies's half-brother Luke Stevens, 27, of Minsterley, was given eight months in jail, his cousin Kayleigh Davies, 25, from Lowfield in Shrewsbury, an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years and a teenager a two-year youth rehabilitation order with supervision.

Mr Bebbington was attacked by Doran and Davies on the night of September 6 last year on a footpath near Ditherington Road.

The court heard Doran kicked Mr Bebbington down a flight of concrete stairs and hit him over the head with a bottle, before both him and Davies stamped on the busker's head.

They returned minutes later, where a second brutal attack led by Doran occurred. Mr Bebbington died in hospital on the morning of September 7 from a bleed on the brain.

Detective Inspector Andy Parsons, of West Mercia Police, who led the investigation, said: "The brutal and savage attack on Mr Bebbington was both shocking in its ferocity and the fact it was completely unprovoked."