NEWCASTLE, England, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Three British teenagers were given life sentences for the fatal stabbing of a young man who complained they were too noisy.
Dean Curtis, 19, must spend at least 17 years behind bars, The Times of London reported. Tony Hawkes, 17, must serve at least 16 years and Jordan Towers, 16, 13 years.
All three defendants and their victim were from Sunderland, a working-class town near Newcastle in northern England. After killing Kevin Johnson, 22, who lived with his fiancee and young child, they went on a drunken rampage, stabbing and wounding another man, prosecutors said at their trial.
At the sentencing Friday in Newcastle Crown Court, Judge David Hodson said the crime showed "the sheer stupidity and the obvious danger of young men carrying knives."
"It is all too easy, particularly when fueled up with drink, to use them. All too often the consequences are fatal," he said. "There is nothing macho in carrying a knife. It is the mark of a coward."
