Appeal of teens’ ‘unduly lenient’ sentences for racist Barry murder rejected

Lord Justice Popplewell paid tribute to Aman’s family who were at the hearing in London on Thursday, where he acknowledged their “profound loss and suffering” and the dignity they had shown.

He told the court that sentencing children was a “particularly difficult task”, and the trial judge had paid clear attention to both the individual circumstances of the boys and the circumstances of the murder.

Both boys watched the proceedings via videolinks at their young offender institutions.

Staniforth, who stabbed Aman in the heart and tried to wash the knife with bleach to destroy evidence, was seated in a large room with a security officer by his side.

Dressed in a grey zipped top and grey tracksuit bottoms he yawned and stretched repeatedly as the court was told he was of exceptionally low intellect and had an IQ of just 60.

He was described as “pathetically keen to support his friend” on the night of the murder.

The younger boy sat in a small, locked room dressed in a black denim jacket.

The court heard he was drunk and high on cocaine when he spotted Aman leaving his mother’s home after delivering shopping.

Aman died after suffering a single stab wound to the heart.