A TEENAGER has been jailed for life for the ferocious murder of a homeless man by Cambridge Crown Court.

Jack Robinson, formerly of Royston but presently of no fixed address, was sentenced to a minimum of 14 years for subjecting Raymond Boyle, 52, to a “brutal and gratuitous beating” before dumping him in the River Cam in the early hours of June 22 last year.

Robinson, 18, was found guilty last month after a two-week trial acquitted his co-accused Daniel Mynott, also 18.

Mr Boyle offered Robinson a cigarette near a bench on Jesus Green before he launched an unprovoked attack, stamping on his head before rolling his body into the river.

Judge Anthony Bate told Robinson on Friday: “Although this was a sustained assault, there were at least two lulls in the violence when you had Mr Boyle at your mercy, but you showed him none.

“You let him suffer at your feet and made no effort then or later to summon help.

“By a point in time no later than when you had put the barely or unconscious Mr Boyle in the river, you had formed the intention to kill him.

“There was no more than a few minutes’ pre-meditation before you coolly and chillingly decided to dispose of Mr Boyle.”

Robinson, who wore a hooded top in the dock, showed no emotion when the sentence was passed.

Mr Boyle, a father of three, suffered facial wounds, early brain damage and 13 rib fractures. He was found in the river an hour or so after Robinson left the scene.

Mitigating, Bernard Tetlow QC said Robinson had a difficult upbringing and lacked any role-models in his life.

Judge Bate said numerous pre-sentence reports painted Robinson as “a very angry young man, who does not like to be even mildly challenged”.

He also praised the police for their “meticulous” operation.

Speaking outside the court, Detective Chief Inspector David Grierson said: “We are generally pleased. The starting tariff is 12 years and the judge has sentenced a little bit higher than that and has given good reason for that.

“The attack was sustained and ferocious and it culminated with a man nearly dead being put into the River Cam.

“It could have been anyone walking along the river bank that night.”

Police had to scour 40 hours of CCTV footage to piece together the events of that mid-summer evening.