TWO teen killers who terrorised a vulnerable man for a year before dumping his body in the Mersey have been jailed for life.

Craig Dodd, aged 17 and Ryan Palin, aged 15, boasted to friends they had killed Raymond Atherton, aged 40, and even took them to the spot near Kingsway Bridge where they had left the dead man floating in the river, Warrington Crown Court heard on Tuesday.

During the long campaign of terror, which the killers nicknamed terroring', they regularly visited the victim's flat at St Katherine's Way, Howley.

The acts they inflicted on Mr Atherton included urinating on him, pouring bleach over his head and punching him in the face until he fell to the floor.

The pair were sentenced to life in prison for the killing. Palin, of Grasmere Avenue, Orford, will serve a minimum of six years while Dodd, of no fixed address, will serve seven years. Neither boy showed any emotion in the dock.

Justice Henry Hodge said: "It was a savage attack, cruel, brutal and vicious for which you have shown no remorse.

"What you two did to Mr Atherton convinces me that you are very dangerous.

"I think the public is at risk from both of you."

Both admitted manslaughter but never explained how or why they killed Mr Atherton, an alcoholic who had learning difficulties, making him a vulnerable target.

On the night of his death, May 8 last year, Mr Atherton suffered serious head injuries after a beating from the pair as well as bruises to the right side of his skull, legs, arms and back.

While Mr Atherton was still alive, Dodd was seen dragging him covered in blood out of his home but when confronted by a concerned neighbour both boys picked up planks of wood.

The court heard that during this part of the attack Mr Atherton said to his neighbour: "Look how they have hit me. Look, they have hit me."

They were the last words he uttered.

Moments later, before the neighbour could call the police, the boys were seen leading away Mr Atherton, who was wearing no shoes. It was the last time he was seen alive.

Prosecuting, Patrick Harrington QC said: "The result was to kill him, beating him savagely and then throwing him into the Mersey.

"This is made worse by their total lack of remorse.

"They had no respect for him or his life."

A week after Atherton's disappearance, the teens bragged to two friends of what they had done.

Dodd said: "Do you want to see a body, a body in the river?

Palin added: "We killed someone. We will show you if you don't believe us."

But the court heard that four police officers spotted the boys acting suspiciously on the riverbank and went to investigate, finding the corpse in the same place the boys had left it.

Blood from Mr Atherton and the two boys was discovered in the bath and sink of another victim of the pair's abuse where they had washed their clothes following the killing.

The judge added: "If one were to search for a single adjective to describe their behaviour, it would be feral.

"They were wild and untamed."