FOUR people who murdered student Billy Henham have being sentenced at Hove Crown Court this morning to a total of 86 years in prison.

Billy was beaten, stripped naked and thrown off a balcony at a disused building in Brighton on January 1, 2020.

The 24-year-old, from Henfield, was subjected to a “sustained and significant” fatal assault from punches, kicks and stamps, the court heard.

Dushane Meikle, 28, and Gregory Hawley, 29, were each sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 25 years; Lamech Gordon-Carew, 20, and 19-year-old Alize Spence each received minimum terms of 18 years.

All had been found guilty of murder.

The court had heard that Hawley had refused to attend court because he didn't "feel well” while Meikle also refused to attend as he was unable to access legal documents.

The presiding judge, His Honour Justice John Cavanagh, attacked their "lack of moral character" after failing to appear at the sentencing.

He said none of the defendants had shown any remorse for the murder.

Gordon-Carew and Spence showed no emotion as they were sentenced.

Billy's parents Ian and Debbie made an emotional victim impact statement to the court, in which they said their lives had been "devastated" and called the attack on their son "brutal".  

In their statement they paid tribute to the police who investigated Billy's murder.

James Mulholland QC, prosecuting, told the court this morning that the defendants "enjoyed" and "boasted" about their attack on the student.

READ MORE: Billy Henham suffered 67 separate injuries in brutal murder in Brighton