Three men who carried out a savage murder bid in a city centre which left the victim with life-changing injuries were jailed for a total of more than 18 years on Tuesday.
Kieran Maule ,24, Dylan Patrick ,22, and Aaron Henderson ,20, were captured on camera launching the brutal attack on John Foster at Hunter Square, in Edinburgh, just off the city's Royal Mile.
A judge told the trio: "As a pack, as Crown counsel put matters to the jury, you spontaneously engaged in a concerted and murderous attack on your victim."
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Mr Foster was pushed, punched and kicked and fell to the ground and while he was lying prone his attackers repeatedly kicked and stamped on his head and body during the outburst of savagery.
Lord Arthurson said at the High Court in Edinburgh that they then left the scene together "strolling up the High Street" and paying no heed to the carnage they left behind..
The judge jailed Maule and Henderson for five and a half years each after they earlier admitted attempting to murder their victim. First offender Patrick, who was found guilty after trial, was sentenced to seven and half years imprisonment for the attempted murder on October 20 in 2020.
They were convicted of assaulting Mr Foster to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement, permanent impairment and to the danger of his life in the murder bid.
Paramedics who tended to the injured man found him to be "totally unconscious" and he was rushed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary suffering internal bleeding to his head and facial fractures.
He was considered to be "critically unwell" and was placed in an induced coma. Following a spell in intensive care and a high dependency unit he was later transferred to another hospital for rehabilitation.
He was left with memory loss, left sided weakness and enduring pain and appeared at court in a wheelchair during the trial of Patrick, of Lochend Gardens, in Edinburgh.
Mr Foster (55) told the court that he could not remember anything about what had happened, nor could he recall waking up in hospital or how long he was there.
He was asked what caused him to be in a wheelchair and said: "I think I was assaulted." He said he sustained a brain injury and was now aided by a support worker.
Witnesses described seeing a man on the ground and three attackers around him kicking into him and stomping on him.
Isabella Ennis KC, who prosecuted Patrick, told the jury at his trial that the attackers were "all in it together" and they all bore responsibility for the kicks, stamps and punches inflicted on the victim.
The court heard that the attempted murder took place in a part of the city that is a haunt for street drinkers, but is also an area frequented by the public and is a busy part of "tourist Edinburgh".
Defence counsel Kenneth Cloggie, for Maule, formerly of Moredunvale Bank, Edinburgh, said he had struggled with mental health issues and had post traumatic stress disorder following difficult early life experiences.
He said that while on remand he has sought help and taken part in education classes. The defence counsel said: "He is a young person who has his life ahead of him and can be a productive member of society."
Dale Hughes said that Patrick was 20 at the time of the offence and sentencing guidelines for young persons applied to him and his co-accused. He said he had a difficult upbringing but no previous convictions.
He told the court: "It seems he has changed his lifestyle, particularly while on bail awaiting trial. He has sought new friends and distanced himself from the milieu that he previously associated with."
Defence counsel for Henderson, David Taylor, said he was a young man who had "a Frankenstein's monster of a childhood" and was subjected to significant trauma.
He said Henderson, who was assessed as posing a high risk of re-offending, was "heavily under the influence of drugs and alcohol" at the time of the offence.
Mr Taylor said Henderson, formerly of Moredun Park Gardens, Edinburgh, has expressed remorse and regret and wrote a letter to the court in which he apologised to the victim.
Lord Arthurson said that had they been adult offenders they would have faced longer prison sentences for the crime.
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