A Lisburn man who was part of a three-strong gang who beat an autistic student in a disused warehouse and left him for dead was handed a 10-year sentence on Wednesday.
Judge Patrick Lynch QC told Ryan Craig (20) that while he will be released from custody after serving his sentence, his victim Scott Vineer "will never be released from the imprisonment you subjected him to".
Craig (20), from Ashmount Gardens in Lisburn, was initially charged with attempting to murder Scott Vineer in September 2012.
He denied that charge, but earlier this year he admitted assaulting Mr Vineer, causing him grievous bodily harm.
Craig was told that he will serve half of the sentence in custody, with the remaining five-years spent on supervised licence.
Mr Vineer, who has autism, was a 17-year-old student at the time of the assault.
He was attacked as he made his way home from Lisburn Tech and was beaten so severely that he had to be identified from bracelets he was wearing.
His failure to return home from college on September 6th, 2012, sparked a manhunt that led to Mr Vineer being found with serious head and brain injuries in the grounds of the disused World of Furniture store on Laganbank Road.
A previous hearing was told that Craig and two other males led Mr Vineer to the warehouse, where they beat him.
Once on the ground, Mr Vineer sustained numerous kicks to the head.
Craig, a student at Lisburn Tech at the time, then proceeded to batter Mr Vineer as he lay on the ground with a plank of wood.
As Mr Vineer lay unconscious, Craig rifled through his pockets and threw away his mobile phone.
The prosecution had said that this action “removed Scott Vineer’s chance of contact with the outside world”.
‘Significant impact’
During sentencing on Wednesday, the judge spoke of the significant impact the attack has had on Mr Vineer, saying that three years after the incident he has “significant ongoing physical limitations”.
The judge said that while it had to be accepted that Craig did not inflict the “major injuries”, he was a “willing participant” in the assault on Mr Vineer, and that he “clearly and deliberately involved himself” in the attack.
Craig’s barrister Gavan Duffy QC said that his client was remorseful for what he had done.
However, the judge said that Craig’s behaviour since the attack - which has included a petrol bomb attack on police - would suggest otherwise.