A pair of 12-year-olds have become two of the youngest children to be locked up after they stoned and then beat an Asian boy unconscious.

The thugs lured their 11-year-old victim and a friend to fields near the A27 and then turned on them.

They hurled stones with such force that the 11-year-old was left with such horrific wounds he looked like he had been knifed.

Now they are spending their first days in custody after they were convicted of the brutal attack in Brighton.

Before their conviction there were only four other 12-year-olds serving detention and training orders in the UK.

Police welcomed the sentences, describing the crime as "an unprovoked, brutal attack".

The assault happened on May 19 in fields to the north of the victim's Hollingdean home.

Legal restrictions mean that neither the attackers nor their victims can be identified because of their age.

At a trial at Brighton Youth Court, the Asian victim described how he felt like he was being led into a trap by the two boys as they suggested that he and some friends all go to look at the sheep and cows.

He told The Argus: "They said: 'Come on, let's go up to the fields to play'.

"On the way up there we crossed the road near Asda and they began throwing rocks and stones on to the cars below the bridge we used.

"I said to them: 'Don't do it, it's wrong.' "Once we got into the field they started throwing stones at the cows and sheep and again I said to them: 'Stop doing it - it's wrong'. They just laughed at me."

The yobs then turned their attention on the 11-year-old and began bombarding him with stones and hurling racist abuse at him.

They then kicked him when he fell to the ground - before chasing him when he recovered enough to escape.

The victim said: "I just remember waking up in the field a bit later and then running home with them chasing me.

"I don't really know how I did it because I really hurt.

"I think it must have been adrenaline."

He spent three days in hospital with stab wounds from stones and a bruised kidney.

The assault was so vicious that as well as being knocked out he was left with a shoeprint on his face.

His 11-year-old friend was left with serious cuts and bruises after the ordeal.

The attackers both denied the assault but were convicted after a trial at Brighton Youth Court.

One of the 12-year-olds was sentenced to an eight-month detention and training order for racially motivated actual bodily harm.

The other got a six-month sentence for actual bodily harm. Both had denied a racial element to the assault.

Detective Constable Richard Ruffle, of Sussex Police's anti-victimisation unit, said: "This was an unprovoked, brutal attack and I am delighted the courts have recognised the seriousness of what occurred.

"I think that in itself shows how serious this attack was.

"Both offenders pleaded not guilty to the racially aggravated element to the attack meaning that the boy and his friend both had to relive their ordeal by giving evidence in court.

"I would like to thank the boy and his friend, and their families, for their support in helping us to bring these two boys to justice."

Detention and training orders can be given to children between 12 and 17 years of age.

Their maximum length is two years.

They are only given to young people sentenced for serious offences where the child poses a high risk of reoffending.

The first half of the sentence is spent in custody and the second half in the community under the supervision of the local Youth Offending Team.

Children are assessed after their sentencing to decide where they should be placed.

Those aged between 12 and 14 are either sent to a secure children's home or a secure training centre.

Secure children's homes are run by council social services departments and have between six and 40 beds split into small units.

They have a high number of staff per student and tailor support to the inmates' needs.

Secure training centres have up to 87 places, split into houses with up to eight inmates each.

They have fewer staff than secure children's home, but more than a Young Offender Institution.

The inmates are given tailored training programmes designed to stop them reoffending and 25 hours a week of formal education, all year round.

The nearest secure training centre to Brighton is in Rochester in Kent.

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