Cousins get prison for racial killing

LIVERPOOL, England, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Two English cousins have been given long prison terms for killing a black teen in a racially motivated killing in a Liverpool-area park.

Paul Taylor, 20 -- who pleaded guilty, admitting that he used a pick ax to strike down Anthony Walker -- must serve at least 23 years and eight months, the BBC reported. Michael Barton, 17, who was convicted at trial, was sentenced to 17 years and eight months.

The judge, Brian Leveson, described Walker as "a young man of enormous promise, lost in a moment."

"This was a racist attack of a type poisonous to any civilized society," Leveson said. "In spite of your youth, deterrent sentences are vital."

During Barton's trial, witnesses testified that he shouted racist abuse at Walker, who was waiting at a bus stop with his girlfriend and a cousin. Leveson said that even though Taylor was the one who carried out the killing, Barton -- the younger brother of Manchester United player Joey Barton -- pursued Walker and gave Taylor the ax.