TWO men have been given life sentences at Maidstone Crown Court for battering a young Ramsgate man to death.

The victim, Lee Harvey, was not known to either of his killers. But he died after 26-year-old Mark Honan used a gay telephone chatline in order to trick him into a meeting.

Honan, of Godwin Road, Cliftonville, near Margate, also tricked his co-defendant, Gary Crewe, into being present, the court heard.

Once the group had reached an isolated spot -driven there by Mr Harvey in his own car - the 30-year-old homosexual was viciously attacked by both men and died from multiple injuries.

After it was over, Crewe’s friend Ricky Brown assisted the pair to cover their tracks by helping to dispose of their bloodstained clothing and providing Honan with a pair of shoes to replace his own, bloodied trainers.

Crewe, also 26, of Invicta House, Millmead Road, Margate, was told by the judge: “There is no doubt that you went willingly to that meeting. There is no doubt that you directed Lee Harvey on that fateful journey to that desolate place, and I have no doubt that you took a full part in that attack.”

Brown, 36, of William Avenue, Margate, was jailed for four years for perverting the course of justice by helping in the disposal of clothing worn by the other two.

Honan made no secret of his hatred of gays, the court heard. He admitted the murder at the start of the trial.

Scots-born Crewe denied murder, claiming he had been asked by Honan to go to the meeting, in April last year, to act as a witness to a conversation between the Irishman and someone who had “grassed” him up to the DSS. Both he and Brown were convicted by the jury.