A FORMER public schoolgirl and a 20-year-old man have been locked up for a total of 13 years for killing gay man Ian Baynham.
Ruby Thomas, aged 19, and Joel Alexander were sentenced at the Old Bailey today after previously being found guilty of the manslaughter of 62-year-old Mr Baynham.
Thomas, who lived in Bourdon Road in Crystal Palace before moving to Lichfield after Mr Baynham’s death, was sentenced to seven years in a young offenders institute.
Alexander, of Talbot Road in Thornton Heath, was given six years, also in a young offenders institute.
The court heard Thomas had shouted a homophobic insult at Mr Baynham as he walked past her, Alexander and Rachel Burke in Trafalgar Square on September 25, 2009.
When Mr Baynham confronted her, Alexander punched him in the jaw and he fell backwards and hit his head on the pavement.
Thomas and Burke then kicked and stamped on Mr Baynham as he lay unconscious on the floor.
Civil servant Mr Baynham, who lived in Gresham Road in Beckenham, died in hospital as a result of the fractured skull and brain damage he suffered when his head hit the pavement.
Burke, aged 19, of Beaumont Road in Crystal Palace, was also sentenced today after previously being found guilty of affray in connection with the attack, and was given two years in a young offenders institute.
Passing sentence, Judge Richard Hawkins said: “It’s clear that all of you had had far too much to drink.
“This was a case of mindless drink fuelled violence committed in public.”
He said he had sentenced Thomas to a year more than Alexander because her homophobic comment to Mr Baynham was an aggravating factor.
After the sentencing, Mr Baynham’s 55-year-old sister Jenny, from Clapham, said she was proud of him for standing up for himself when insulted.
She said: “I feel proud of Ian because he had the guts to stand up for who he was.”
Commenting on the sentence, she added: “Sentences are getting less and less [and] they do not want to send people to prison.
“Because of that it is a reasonable sentence – it could have been nothing."
CCTV used as evidence during the trial:
CCTV of Ian Baynham being treated by paramedics following the attack
Ruby Thomas with friends in a lift up to Hungerford Bridge after the attack
Joel Alexander in in lift after changing his top following the attack
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