Two thugs who savagely killed a fellow down-and-out in a disabled toilet in Thanet have been jailed for life.

Kyle Eames, 22, and Duncan Shelbourne, 45, were told they would have to serve minimum terms of 12 years and 16 years respectively before being considered for parole.

Judge Andrew Patience QC told the pair he was sentencing them on the basis that they intended to cause 44-year-old Alan Parker "really serious bodily harm" and not to kill him.

However, the judge, sitting at Maidstone Crown Court, added that Mr Parker died as the result of a "tragic, violent and mindless killing."

Eames, of no fixed address, had admitted murder at an earlier hearing. Shelbourne, of Dalby Square, Cliftonville, denied the same charge but was convicted by a jury.

Judge Patience said he had "no doubt" that they had acted together.

"The totality of the blows inflicted upon Mr Parker were not the work of one man," he explained.

Mr Parker, who was said to be a distinctive character in the area, was beaten around his head, neck and body.

He was then left for dead in the cubicle in the toilets in Fifth Avenue, Walpole Bay, in March last year.

His unconscious body was found by a cleaner but despite medical help he died later that day at the Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.

A post mortem revealed he had died from multiple injuries including a fractured skull, fractured nose, broken ribs and fractured neck cartiliage.

The jury was told the injuries to Mr Parker’s neck were consistent with stamping or kicking.

Mr Parker, who had accommodation in Surrey Road, Cliftonville, was known around the area for his red shopping trolley and diminutive stature, weighing just eight stone and about 5ft tall.

He would often wear clothes too big for him and tuck his trousers in his socks. Mr Parker was also in ill health. He wore glasses, had poor hearing and walked with a limp.

The court heard Mr Parker’s glasses and trolley bag frame were later found on the lower esplanade, having been thrown over the cliff at the rear of the toilets.

Shelbourne later described him to police as "a bit retarded."

Mr Parker, Shelbourne and Eames were said to be part of the "street community" in Margate.

They had no permanent accommodation and would either sleep rough or in local guest houses, did not work and spent their days drinking "copious" amounts of alcohol.

They would often frequent a soup kitchen in Northdown Road and the bar at the indoor bowls centre on the Eastern Esplanade.

Shelbourne and Eames, known as Chopper, were said to be "more capable" individuals and both relatively fit despite their heavy drinking.

"Mr Parker was an obvious target and an easy target, ill-equipped to fight back," said prosecutor Oliver Saxby.

"He was a punch bag literally and metaphorically."

The court heard during the trial that in the hours after the attack on Mr Parker, Eames and Shelbourne appeared "proud" of what they had done.

After his arrest Shelbourne, who did not give evidence at the trial, claimed Mr Parker stole from his own disabled father and branded him a paedophile.

He went on to say he had "done a favour and took him out of the system."

The court heard that Eames had been abused and neglected as a child and was suffering an "abnormality of mind" at the time of the murder.

Judge Patience said he accepted that his attack on Mr Parker had been "prompted" by a sexual advance which reminded him of his childhood.

Eames, who was 21 at the time of the killing, had also been an alcoholic from an early age.

Shelbourne was also said to be "very drunk" before and after the attack on Mr Parker. But Judge Patience said he rejected arguments put forward on his behalf that although he may have "encouraged" Eames to attack Mr Parker, he had not participated .

Judge Patience said the "terrible crime" was aggravated by Mr Parker’s vulnerability and his prolonged death.

"He did not deserve to die by your hands," he added.

"He did not die suddenly as a result of the use of a gun or a stab wound.

"He was subjected to a violent and prolonged attack and then left by you two, lying on the floor of that cubicle, gravely injured and unable to help himself."

Both men have each already served 549 days in custody on remand.