Two thugs who attacked and hospitalised two men in Brighton last year have had their prison sentences increased.
Gage Vye-Parminter, 18, of Breydon Walk, and Matthew Howes, 19, of Weald Drive, were both originally jailed for five years in a young offender institution for the homophobic attack on two men in Brighton last year. They admitted GHB and assault on two men in the city’s centre. They were ordered to pay a £170 victim surcharge.
The youngest of the two victims suffered fractured eye sockets, nose and cheekbones. Pictures of the victims shocked the community last year after news of the attack made its way onto social media.
However, their sentences have been increased to seven years after the Government’s Solicitor General Robert Buckland challenged the “unduly lenient” sentence. The court agreed to extend the time to reflect that it was a hate crime.
Speaking after the hearing, Mr Buckland QC said,
“This vicious attack was totally unprovoked and has left the victims with long-term emotional and physical scars. It will take the victims a considerable amount of time to recover from this.
“I thought the sentence was unduly lenient as it failed to adequately take into account that this attack was motivated by hate.
“I hope the court’s decision to impose a longer prison sentence, to include the sentence uplift, sends a clear message to society that such offences will not be tolerated.”
