TWO men who brutally bludgeoned a witchcraft enthusiast to death on a Todmorden hillside have been jailed for life.

Daniel Antonious Delker and David Terance Sandham, both 24, were found guilty of murdering 44-year-old James Bowman in Cornholme.

They were convicted following a two-week trial at Leeds Crown Court.

Detectives involved in the murder investigation today branded them callous killers and said they had showed no remorse for the savage attack.

Det Supt Allan Doherty said after the sentencing: "Mr Bowman suffered 88 separate injuries during what was a prolonged and sustained assault.

"He looked like he had suffered a very brutal attack but the sheer number of injuries is what was most shocking -- it is nothing short of gratuitous.

"Delker and Sandham have denied the offence from the outset. They have never showed any remorse whatsoever and have tried to make their defence fit round the evidence given in court. One can only describe their actions as callous."

Delker, of Shackleton Road, Kirkham, and Sandham, of The Croft, Cleveleys, murdered Mr Bowman on September 15 last year after he had been spurned by Delker's mother Melanie Payne.

Mr Bowman, who was a Wiccan follower, had allegedly left wild flowers associated with witchcraft on a wall outside Mrs Payne's home in Ernest Street, Cornholme, and had made telephone calls to her despite being asked not to.

Delker and Sandham were called in to protect Mrs Payne, who believed in witchcraft and was afraid that Mr Bowman, who called himself a Wiccan priest, might return.

Mr Bowman died within two hours of the attack last September next to a campfire on a hillside in which he suffered horrific head injuries and stab wounds -- two of which punctured his lungs.

Det Supt Doherty said: "It is a sad case for all parties concerned. This incident could have been settled so easily if Mrs Payne or her sons were worried about repercussions.

"We have a domestic violence officer -- it could have all been dealt with so simply but by going outside of the law and taking the law into their own hands, they have caused the death of a man needlessly and gone to prison for a very long time."