A GANG of four who brutally tortured and then murdered a young man who thought they were his friends will today learn how long they will spend in prison.

Jamie Dack’s killers Lee Nicholls, Ryan Woodmansey, Andrew Dwyer-Skeats and Donna Chalk will be handed mandatory life sentences when they reappear together at Winchester Crown Court for the final time today.

It will be the first time all four are back in court together since last November when a first trial was abandoned after Nicholls took the stand to give evidence and changed his plea to guilty.

Daily Echo: NICHOLLS Lee 25-02-84.jpg

Lee Nicholls

The second trial came to an end last Friday when jurors returned unanimous guilty verdicts against the trio after just over ten hours of deliberating.

Jamie, 22, was held captive in a one bedroom flat in Bevois Mews, Southampton, on Thursday April 5 last year by the gang who had plotted to steal his laptop for funds to go to an all night rave in Bournemouth the following day.

Daily Echo: Ryan Woodmansey

Ryan Woodmansey, above

He was bound and gagged, beaten with fists, bottles and knives and locked in a wardrobe. On Good Friday the gang sold his laptop and split the profits before returning to the squat and murdering Jamie who was stabbed around his body and then fatally in the neck.

Daily Echo: Andrew Dwyer-Skeats

Andrew Dwyer-Skeats, above

His body was placed in a wheelie bin and dragged to Empress Road where it was torched with petrol only to be found by firefighters in the early hours of Easter Sunday.

Daily Echo: Donna Louise Chalk

Donna Chalk, above

Nicholls, 29, Woodmansey, 32, Dwyer-Skeats, 27 and Chalk, 22, will appear at 10am.

 Log on to dailyecho.co.uk for live updates from the sentencing.

For all the background and coverage of the Jamie Dack case click here