Vandal gang convicted of kicking man to death: Youths playing football with bollard inflicted 55 separate injuries on victim. Ian MacKinnon reports

THREE young men found guilty of murdering a father-of-three as he attempted to stop a gang vandalising a traffic bollard will be sentenced today, along with a fourth who was convicted of manslaughter.

Les Reed, 45, was kicked to death and beaten so savagely that his injuries made him look like a car crash victim, Cardiff Crown Court was told during the three-week trial.

His friend Philip Tull, 46, who was walking home from a club with him just before the attack on the city's notorious Ely housing estate, was left unconscious by the gang.

The jury of seven men and five women took seven hours to find three of the defendants guilty of Mr Reed's murder. A fourth accused was cleared of murder, but found guilty of manslaughter.

Stephen James, 20, unemployed, was found guilty of murder by a 10 to 2 majority. Michael Mundell, 20, unemployed, was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter by an 11 to 1 majority. Two 17-year-old youths, who cannot be named, were found guilty of murder, one by a 10 to 2 majority. All four live on the estate.

Three of the youths were also found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Tull, a painter and decorator. Mundell was found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm to Mr Tull.

The court was told that Mr Reed and Mr Tull were walking home after their regular Friday darts night at a social club last June when they spotted about a dozen youths kicking a broken bollard around in the road.

The gang split up but two remained at the crossing and called back others, spoiling for a fight after Mr Reed told them to 'give the neighbours a bit of peace'. Some of the gang had been drinking cider and were planning to watch Juice, a video about New York street violence, the court was told.

Members of the gang laughed as Mr Reed was repeatedly kicked and stamped on the head while he lay on the ground. Neighbours who called police told them that they were alerted by a commotion and thuds as the two men were beaten.

Ambulance crews called to the scene were unable to save Mr Reed, a disabled former steel worker, and he died at Charteris Green only yards from his home.

Doctors later found he had 55 separate injuries and one kick was so severe it stretched his spinal cord.

John Griffiths Williams QC, for the prosecution, said: 'Not one of them (the gang) showed any concern then and seemingly none since. Their reactions varied from extremes of indifference to arrogance.'

Last night, Mr Reed's widow, Linda, 44, said she hoped to start a new life with her children on another part of the Ely estate, away from where he was murdered.

She and her husband were married for 23 years, and nine months after his death, she still cannot bring herself to walk on Charteris Green. 'I'll never forgive them for what they did. They didn't just leave Les unconscious, they stamped on him as well.'

Despite the killing just yards from her home, Mrs Reed said she firmly believed the majority of residents on the estate were decent people.

'There is nothing wrong with Ely. I've lived here for 40 years. It is only since the rioting here that the estate had a bad name. Not all the kids are bad, it is only a few. There are worse places than this.'

Neighbours on the estate want a permanent memorial erected to Mr Reed and more than 2,000 people have signed a petition calling for the scene of the attack, Charteris Green, to be fenced off and turned into a park named after him.

They have also raised pounds 10,000 in an appeal fund to help Mrs Reed and her three children, Martin, 19, Amanda, 14, and Sharon, 12. A spokesman for Cardiff council said the family was being consulted on the most appropriate way to remember him.