THE younger brother of a student murdered at a New Year’s Eve party has paid tribute to him, describing him as a “really sweet person”.

Rory Henham, a former postgraduate journalism student at the University of Sussex, said the past two years had been “incredibly difficult for everyone, particularly my parents”.

“This should never have happened,” said Rory, who has been at the side of his parents, Ian and Debbie, throughout the legal proceedings. “He was only going for a night out.”

Rory’s brother 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.

At Hove Crown Court yesterday, Dushane Meikle, 28, Gregory Hawley, 29, Lamech Gordon-Carew, 20, and 19-year-old Alize Spence were all found guilty of murder and sentenced to a total of 86 years’ imprisonment at Hove Crown Court.

Rory said the past two years had been very difficult for his parents, who both gave up working after the “brutal” murder of their son, who was a student at Ravensbourne University in London.

Among the injuries Billy suffered were 11 rib fractures, extensive bruising to his scalp, face and neck, a deep cut to his forehead and a brain injury.

He was struck with a broken wooden stair spindle. His body, which had been dropped over balcony railings from a height of nearly 11ft, was discovered by police the following day.

“The past two years have been very difficult,” said Rory.

In paying tribute to Billy, Rory described his brother as “really nice and kind”.

“He was such a sweet person,” he said. “A great brother. It’s going to be really difficult to move forward from this. In fact, I’m not sure if I can.

“Sometimes it feels like you’re going forward, and then you just … ‘stop’. It’s like there is this on-off switch inside,

“The past two years have just been all-consuming.”

READ MORE: Billy Henham murder: murderers are sentenced