Teenagers clubbed dad to death

Gary Rae, who had two children, was savagely beaten and kicked to death outside his flat.

He was clubbed mercilessly to the ground with a baseball bat by 19-year-old ringleader William Devall.

Luke Jones, 18, waded in, hitting the 40-year-old divorcee with a second baseball bat.

A 16-year-old juvenile, who cannot be named, had lured him out of his flat by calling him down.

The three were convicted of his murder yesterday after a ten-week trial at Hove Crown Court which is estimated to have cost more than £1.5 million.

Shane Challice, 19, and a 17-year-old youth, who were allegedly part of the gang that attacked Mr Rae, were unanimously cleared of murder.

The jury has yet to reach a verdict on Jason Jackson, 18, who was with the others when Mr Rae was attacked.

Prosecutor Paul Lewis, QC, said the three had descended on their helpless victim "like jackals" as he lay defenceless on the ground on May 29 last year.

The attack was witnessed by Devall's ex-girlfriend Amy Heaseman, 18, who wept as she recalled in court how Mr Rae died.

She said: "Will hit Gary on the head and he went all wobbly. Will hit him again on the back of the head and he fell to the floor."

Mr Rae's mother Louise De-Jong and sisters Karen Johnson and Tina Murphy attended the trial almost every day.

They sat at the back of the court with Mr Rae's stepdaughters Louise and Lauren Hennesey as the jury foreman delivered the verdicts.

They are expected make a statement after the jury finishes considering the case against Jackson today.

During the trial the family sat just feet from the defendants, some of whom showed little respect for their feelings by laughing and making comments during the evidence.

Judge Anthony Scott-Gall repeatedly warned them about their behaviour in the dock.

Devall and Jones, both of Meadow Road, Hailsham, admitted using their baseball bats on Mr Rae but said they had not intended to kill him.

They denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Jackson, of Albert Road, Polegate, and Challice, of South Road, Hailsham, admitted being there but said they had not taken part in the attack. Challice said he had thought they were going into town to look for girls to take back to a party at his flat.

He said he had not known the others had baseball bats hidden in their clothes.

The 17-year-old cleared of murder told the jury he was at the nearby Lagoon leisure centre when the attack took place.

He said he had gone to investigate after he saw police cars and an ambulance outside Mr Rae's flat as he walked back through the town centre.

The other five defendants backed his story, saying he had not been there and had not taken part in the attack.

The court heard Devall went to a friend's flat in Fletcher Close, Hailsham, after the killing.

But as a result of what Miss Heaseman had told police, officers were already looking for Devall and five others she had identified as being at the scene.

Devall gave officers a false name when they arrived but he gave himself up at Hailsham police station later that day. Challice, Jackson and Jones gave themselves up at Hailsham 40 minutes later.

Devall decided not to give evidence during the trial, instead relying on medical evidence he was suffering from an alcohol-related brain disorder at the time of the killing.

However, experts said he was fit to give evidence and knew the difference between right and wrong.

They concluded he no longer suffered the delusions caused by the condition.

Jones told the jury he wanted to admit responsibility for what he did and told his co-defendants he was not going to cover up for them.

As he walked to the witness box he said: "I am not covering up for you lot any more."

He told the jury: "Gary was a friend and a good man. He did not deserve to die like that. I want to take responsibility for what I did."

Jones claimed he only hit Mr Rae twice on the legs with his baseball bat because he did not want to look stupid in front of the others by not joining in.

Mr Rae's face was literally kicked in during the attack. The front of his face was shattered and he suffered rib and shoulder fractures, a splintered thigh and 24 separate cuts and bruises.

He was killed by a blow to his kidney, which was severed from its artery, and his liver.

Mr Rae died from massive internal bleeding in the ambulance as he was taken to Eastbourne District General Hospital.

He paid with his life for Devall's obsession with ex-girlfriend Amy Heaseman.

Devall wrongly believed Mr Rae was sleeping with her because she visited his flat with other teenagers.

Mr Rae allowed local youngsters to use his flat above a hairdresser's in High Street, Hailsham, as a place to meet, drink and smoke cannabis.

Devall had been watching the flat and Miss Heaseman was twice stopped and assaulted by him as she left in the early hours in the days leading up to the murder.

He accused her of sleeping with Mr Rae and told her he would kill him.

Devall was convicted of assaulting her two years ago because he thought she was seeing someone else.

The jury heard that on the night of the killing, he had turned up at a party at Challice's flat in South Road, Hailsham, with a baseball bat.

A picture of him wielding it saying he would turn Mr Rae into a cabbage, was taken with a mobile phone camera.

Devall, Jones, Challice, Jackson and the 16-year-old were caught on CCTV as they left the party to walk to Mr Rae's.

Miss Heaseman was in Mr Rae's flat with a 17-year-old girlfriend watching the film Castaway when Devall and the others arrived to confront him.

The 16-year-old, who knew Mr Rae, lured him down saying he wanted to talk to him.

Miss Heaseman told the jury Mr Rae realised something was wrong and told the girls to lock themselves in the bathroom.

They watched as Devall came out of the shadows and hit Mr Rae from behind with a baseball bat as he stepped outside. Miss Heaseman said others then joined in.

Devall and Jones hid the bats in a bush off Black Path as they fled from the scene.

Witnesses said Devall had boasted about what they had done after the killing. He said he had turned Mr Rae into a cabbage while others bragged they had put the boot in.

The jury heard that Challice, Jones, Jackson and the 16-year-old later went back to retrieve the bats and hid them in the loft and gutter at Challice's flat in South Road, Hailsham.

The bats and the clothes Devall was wearing were picked up by his brother Aaron in the early hours of May 30.

Aaron dumped the clothes in Old Swan Lane, Hailsham, and the bats at a pumping station in Earsham Road. They were never recovered.

When he heard what his brother had done, he told witnesses: "I always thought Will would kill somebody one day."

The trial continues.

Ahmet Gordon, 16, of Swan Road, Hailsham, was yesterday (Wednesday) also found guilty of murdering Mr Rae. The judge lifted a section 39 order today allowing The Argus to report his name.