Two young Whitstable men jailed for life for their part in kicking an innocent man to death have failed in appeals.

Mark Elliott, 21, of Sandpiper Road, and his friend, 19-year-old Curtis Delima, of Regent Street, were convicted at Maidstone Crown Court in March of murdering Mark Witherall.

In April, Elliott was ordered to serve a minimum of 23 years before even being able to apply for release, while Delima received a minimum term of 20 years from the judge.

They challenged the lengths of those terms at the Court of Appeal in London, but had their cases rejected by judges, Lord Justice Hooper, Mr Justice McCombe and Mr Justice Wilkie.

Mr Witherall was left for dead after chasing the pair and 16-year-old Gerry Cusden from his home in King Edward Street, Whitstable, when they burgled it in January, 2007.

The youths had taken the keys to the house from his girlfriend during a party in Whitstable that night and went to the property looking for things to steal.

After chasing them from his home, Mr Witherall was hit over the head with a spirit level by Delima and then kicked repeatedly by all three.

They left him unconscious as they ransacked his home, before running away with a DVD player, stereo, mobile phone and wallet.

Mr Witherall was found by members of the public and taken to hospital, but died weeks later from the multiple serious injuries he had received from their kicks.

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In advance of the appeal hearing, both youths put forward arguments that their minimum terms, or tariffs, should be reduced to allow them to apply for release sooner.

The attack had not been premeditated, death was not the intention and both were very young at the time, the judges were told.

But Lord Justice Hooper, dismissing the appeals, said: “It is not arguable that the two minimum terms were manifestly excessive.”

The decision means both will have to serve the entirety of their tariffs before even being allowed to apply to the parole board for a review of their imprisonment.

They will only then be released if they are considered safe to live among the community and will remain on licence, subject to prison recall for the rest of their lives.