Lowestoft murder pair sentenced to life in prison

Hayley MaceTwo young men who murdered a terminally-ill Lowestoft man have today been sentenced at court.James Killingback, 23, and Aaron Breffitt, 17, were found guilty of murdering Lowestoft father-of-three John Vry after a trial last year.Hayley Mace

Two young men who murdered a terminally-ill Lowestoft man have today been sentenced at court.

James Killingback, 23, and Aaron Breffitt, 17, were found guilty of murdering Lowestoft father-of-three John Vry after a trial last year.

Today Killingback, of Denmark Road in Lowestoft, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 19 years, and Breffitt, who is of no fixed address, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 12 years.

During a trial at Ipswich Crown Court last year, a jury heard that the pair confronted Mr Vry shortly after he left his home in London Road South on December 3 2008.

He was then dragged into an alleyway and held down while being kicked and punched. Mr Vry, 55, died of his injuries in hospital the following day.

Mr Vry, a former electrician, had been diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer in summer 2008 and had been given a life expectancy of between three and six months. At the time of his death, he was preparing to spend his final Christmas with his wife Valerie and their three children.

Killingback and Breffitt had denied murdering Mr Vry but were found guilty on October 27 after a trial at Ipswich Crown Court.

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