Brothers admit horrific attack on boys, 9 and 11; Youngsters' ordeal compared with Bulger murder.

Byline: AMY MURPHY 

TWO young brothers admitted subjecting a nine-year-old boy and his 11-year-old uncle to a sustained "horror" attack.

A court has heard how the older victim pleaded to be left to die after his ordeal at the hands of the brothers, who were aged 10 and 11 at the time.

The details of the attack in Edlington, South Yorkshire, have led many to draw comparisons with the murder of two-year-old Bootle toddler James Bulger, in 1993.

Few details of the incident were given in court yesterday. But previous hearings were told how the boys were hit with sticks and bricks, one had a sink dropped on his head, one had a noose put round his neck and the other was bur ned with a cigarette on his eyelids and ear.

A district judge in April was told how the younger boy had a sharp stick rammed into his arm and cigarettes pushed into the gaping wound.

Their tormentors also tried to force the boys into performing sex acts on each other.

The nine-year-old tried to ram a stick down his own throat after he was told to "go away and kill himself" by one of his tormentors.

Yesterday, at Sheffield Crown Court, the brothers admitted causing their victims grievous bodily harm with intent.

They denied a more serious charges of attempted murder, but the prosecution accepted their pleas and said there would be no trial. The boys will be sentenced at a later date, probably in early November, after a series of reports have been prepared.

Prosecutors later defended their decision not to pursue the attempted murder charge, saying the GBH with intent charge carries the same maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

They also said the decision spared the young victims of the attack from giving evidence in a trial.

The attack on the two boys - who are uncle and nephew - happened after the brothers led them to a "desolate" spot on the edge of the for mer pit village, near Doncaster, on April 4. The brothers were arrested after the nineyear-old boy was found wandering, covered in blood and the 11-year-old - who is the younger boy's uncle - was then discovered unconscious in a nearby wooded ravine.

Peter Kelson, QC, representing the elder defendant, talked of the "horror of the incidents".

Both the injured boys have since been released from hospital.

The two defendants sat in seats normally reserved for solicitors today as they calmly entered their pleas to a series of charges