Life and crimes of Wolverhampton yob who turned killer
As Lewis Thornton stood before the judge, he couldn't have cared less.
Like a sulking teenager being told off for his homework being late, the Asbo yob who grew into a killer wasn't fazed by the weight of the criminal justice system.
It was 2008 when the Express & Star first reported on his life and crimes. Then 17, he and three other members of a gang calling themselves The Rascals were hauled before a court, accompanied by their parents, to be given Asbos.
"They show utter contempt and disrespect for members of the public – stealing from them, throwing things, spitting and generally being abusive," the lawyer applying for the orders said at the time.
As it turned out, Thornton's loutish behaviour was just a hint of what was to come five years later. He once aspired to be a sports teacher, but his life spiralled into violence, and eventually, manslaughter.
For two years the louts thought they were untouchable as they robbed, vandalised and swore their way through life.
On one occasion, a group of around 10 youths burst into the All Saints Action Network on All Saints Road and climbed on to the roof before hurling wooden boxes.
Women in a sewing group were said to be frightened by the yobs, banging on windows, swearing and kicking at the door. They swore at police and threw chips at customers in a takeaway.
Thornton would stand in the way of a partially-sighted woman who uses a stick, moving when she moved.
He was spotted riding a mini-moto bike on Bowdler Road by a woman walking with a six-year-old child who gripped his mother's hand and feared he would be run down.
Even the parents of some of the gang were guilty of anti-social behaviour in court, leading a judge to ask: "And you wonder where the kids learn their manners?" Thornton, then 17, and his friends were ordered to stop wreaking havoc or face time behind bars.
Their campaign of crime and verbal abuse in the All Saints area was laid bare before the court.
They were hit with Asbos in the first case of its kind in the city to use video footage of violence, which had been 'boastfully' posted onto MySpace website.
Thornton was held up against a wall by a grinning 14-year-old in what was described in court as a revenge attack for 'snitching to police'.
Mr Tony Watkins, for the city council and police, said the footage had been 'boastfully' uploaded to the internet.
After viewing the footage, District Judge Martin Brown said: "The video is disgraceful; what more do I need to say?"
The video was one piece of evidence in a string of crimes linked to the gang. Manjit Singh, who runs The Chip Shop, said youths had been causing trouble for around two years.
"I allow them in. I'm frightened of what would happen to me if I threw them out and hurt them," he said.
On one occasion Thornton's father Jeff Arnold laughed when Mr Watkins told the court of an insulting nickname used by gang members for a disabled person in the area.
The gang, which also used the name V2 in an apparent reference to the WV2 postcode, sprayed their name onto buildings.
The louts were warned that they would face more time behind bars if they breached their orders. It was a time when Asbos were branded a 'badge of honour' among young people.
Thornton's Asbo failed. In 2009, he punched a 16-year-old in the face as he demanded his phone on a bus.
Thornton admitted attempted robbery. He asked for three other robberies to be taken into consideration and was given 20 months.
It was a mobile phone that Thornton went on to kill Stephen Phillips for in 2014. All attempts to punish and rehabilitate him, it seems, failed.
When sentencing Thornton this week, Judge John Wait said: "All of the offences you have committed before have had serious consequences, but in this case they were tragic."
