THE teenage killers of Hartlepool woman Angela Wrightson were handed life sentences on Thursday at the end of a harrowing murder trial. Julia Breen was at the hearing in Leeds. 

THE younger girl chewed her nails, while the elder constantly rubbed her eyes as they sat through the judge's lengthy sentencing statement at Leeds Crown Court.

Mr Justice Globe, who cut his teeth as a junior prosecutor on the James Bulger murder case in 1993, spent more than an hour going through his reasoning for the sentences, while the schoolgirl killers waited anxiously to hear their fate.

As he announced the life sentence, with a minimum of 15 years, the younger girl's mother was heard to cry out.

The girls - friends since primary school - remained stony-faced until they were led away, when one could be heard sobbing, the noise echoing around the dock.

Judge Globe spoke about the 39-year-old victim Angela Wrightson - known as "Angie" - who was underweight at just six-and-a-half stone, didn't eat properly and was a vulnerable alcoholic.

He said: "Neighbours said she was easygoing, kind, house-proud and lonely.

"She would often sit on her front doorstep and chat to people as they walked past because she wanted someone to talk to.

"She would invite anyone into her house for company. There lay her vulnerability and downfall."

He said the two girls had taken advantage of her as she bought them alcohol and cigarettes and allowed them to drink and smoke in her home.

The girls were "more than tipsy" on cider on December 8, 2014 - the night they killed Miss Wrightson, who was a known alcoholic and was thought to be "in an argumentative mood".

But "from the first blow, there was no excuse for being violent," he said.

Between 7.30pm and 11pm there was a prolonged episode of violence at Miss Wrightson's home near the centre of Hartlepool, leaving her badly injured, before the girls returned three hours later and started attacking her again until they left at 4am.

Judge Globe said: "You left behind you Angie semi-conscious, unconscious or already dead, slumped on her red couch, naked from the waist down with ornamental pebbles having been poured over her head dripping down her clothes and on to her private parts.

"You hurt her so badly she lost control of her bowels."

Miss Wrightson suffered 70 slash injuries and 54 blunt force injuries, with evidence she had tried to ward off the blows.

She was stamped, kicked, punched and attacked with weapons including a table, shovel, pots, a kettle, metal strainer and metal spoon, and had a television dropped on her.

Her murderers even paused through the beating to take a selfie - with Miss Wrightson's bruised face visible behind them,.

The girls left in "high spirits" and called 999 to use the police as a taxi service to go home, despite being covered in blood, posting Snapchat pictures of themselves in the back of the "bizzie van".

Judge Globe said: "This was a sustained attack over a long period of time carried out with weapons in many different ways. She undoubtedly suffered considerably, both mentally and physically, before ultimately she lost consciousness and died."

The court heard that both girls were of limited IQ, particularly the older girl, who also suffered from an emotional disorder.

Jamie Hill QC, defending her, said: "She lacks the intelligence to simply make a statement about her lack of understanding, as a 14-year-old, about how people could die.

"She had ... a violent and unstable upbringing.

"Two deeply troubled children found themselves in, some would say, an unpredictable world.

"It is difficult to rationalise what happened. One life has been lost, several others have been ruined."

John Elvidge QC, representing the younger girl, said the attack was not premeditated and the intention was not to kill Miss Wrightson.

"When all is said and done, two young lives have been destroyed," he said.

After the hearing, Miss Wrightson's mother Maureen and her family said: "Angie was attacked and brutally murdered in her own home, a place where we all have the right to feel safe.

"No sentence, regardless of its severity, will ever bring Angie back.

"The two girls responsible will one day be women themselves, free to live their lives and perhaps have children of their own - a right which was taken from Angie.

"Angie's infectious personality touched the hearts of so many people and it is those fond memories which we continue to cherish as we attempt to move forward."