Paul Erhahon was stabbed in the heart with a 7in sword after straying into the path of a group of thugs near his home in Leytonstone, east London.

The schoolboy and aspiring DJ was in the wrong place at the wrong time when the heavily-armed youths set upon him.

An Old Bailey jury heard how he cried out "you can't be shanking (stabbing) me" as he was attacked by the 17-strong gang.

Paul Benfield, 16, and Kevin Adu-Marcet, 15, were both given life detention sentences with a minimum term of 13 years after being convicted of murder at the Old Bailey. The third boy convicted of murder, Jordan Conn, 15, was given life with a minimum term of 11 years.

Nathan Desnoes, 16, who was found guilty of manslaughter, was given an extended detention sentence of 12 years, which includes a custodial term of eight years.

A fifth defendant, Theo Diah, 19, was given an indeterminate sentence with a minimum term of seven years. He had also been found guilty of manslaughter.

During the attack, members of the group as young as 13 were urged on by others, who were themselves just a few years older, shouting: "Go on youngers." Many wore hoods and masks, and were armed with baseball bats, knives, swords and a bicycle chain.

Sentencing Paul's killers, Mr Justice Keith told them that they had gone around the streets "hunting in packs".

Jonathan Turner QC, prosecuting, said: "Such gangs, mainly comprised of upper-teenagers or young men in their early 20s, often have younger acolytes who look up to them and earn their spurs by doing the bidding of their elders."