 Detectives conducting the inquiry said that " for sheer mindless brutality " the crime ranked alongside the torture inflicted on children by the Moors murderers . The case went to trial in November 1993 , but received " comparatively little publicity " as it coincided with the trial of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables for the murder of James Bulger . On 17 December 1993 , Jean Powell , aged 26 , her ex @-@ husband Glyn Powell , aged 29 , and Bernadette McNeilly , aged 24 , were sentenced to life imprisonment for their parts in the murder . Jeffrey Leigh , aged 27 , was jailed for twelve years for false imprisonment . Jean Powell 's brother Clifford Pook , aged 18 , was sentenced to fifteen years in a Young Offenders ' Institution for false imprisonment and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm . Anthony Michael Dudson , who was 16 years old at the time of the murder , was also found guilty of murder and sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty 's pleasure under section 53 ( 1 ) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 . 
