A GANG of muggers face life in jail for killing a pensioner who called repeatedly for tougher sentences to deter yobs from terrorising the streets.

Raymond Gange, 69, was battered to death in Derby last August by the three young men.

The retired fork-lift truck driver had been a regular contributor to the letters page of his local paper, where he lamented the state of society and the lawlessness of youth.

Shaun Johns, 18, from Derby, was convicted of murder after a trial at Nottingham Crown Court. Jak Jones, 18 and homeless, had previously admitted murder. Calvin Grant, 17, from Normanton, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter. They will be sentenced at a later date.

Mr Gange, who had six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, was attacked by the three teenagers after they spent the evening on the streets of Derby looking for someone to rob.

They punched, kicked and stamped on the pensioner before throwing his lifeless body over a 5ft hedge.

The court was told that the teenagers had targeted Mr Gange, from Stone in Staffordshire, simply because he crossed their path. He was returning to his sister’s home in Chellaston after celebrating his son-in-law’s birthday at a pub.

Detectives disclosed that Jones had been released from prison two days before he killed Mr Gange. He had been remanded on a charge of violence but obtained bail after new evidence came to light and the case against him was eventually discontinued.

Johns and Jones have since admitted stabbing and robbing a man in Derby the day before killing Mr Gange. Jones also pleaded guilty to the attempted robbery of a man at knifepoint four days later.

After the hearing Tammy Thompson, Mr Gange’s granddaughter, echoed her grandfather’s words and called for the sentences to reflect the trio’s crime. “Everyone will feel safer at night now that these criminals are off the streets,” she said. “They are absolute hooligans who need to be locked up.”

Detective Superintendent John Briggs, now retired, said: “These very dangerous people deserve no sympathy. The violence used was excessive. It was a blood-curdling case, even for experienced detectives.”

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