International I Hate Sports Club

They were once both promising athletes with the world at their feet.

But as one brother aims for a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, the other is starting a life sentence for murder.

Andre Mason - the brother of high jumper Germaine Mason, who won a silver medal at last year's Beijing Games - was this week convicted alongside two of his fellow gang members for killing a 22-year-old student.

Yasin Abdirahman, who was studying at London Metropolitan University, was stabbed in the chest and head near his home in Southall, West London, in September 2007.

He died eight days later of brain injuries.

The Old Bailey heard how Andre, then just 14, was part of a 'pack' who 'hunted down' Mr Abdirahman after he was mistaken for a rival gang member.

Germaine, 26, who is currently training in Jamaica, claimed his brother had acted 'totally out of character' and wrote to the judge to plead for his sentence to be reduced.

But Recorder of London Peter Beaumont, QC, said: 'You come from a good family but the boy they describe stands oddly with the boy the evidence reveals.

'Even after your conviction for murder you continue to regard your co-defendants as a group of supportive friends.

'It is of even greater concern that you have found comfort in your peer group who have reaffirmed the acceptability of your behaviour and rewarded you with members of the group giving you protection and status in prison where you continue to demonstrate no real remorse or shame for your actions.'

He also lifted restrictions banning the naming of the defendants. The court heard how Andre, now 16, was a promising student and athlete who had won several trophies in junior athletic competitions.

However, while attending Acton High School in West London he became a member of the MDP - 'Money, Drugs, Power' - gang.

He was living with his mother Carol and three brothers, including Germaine, in Acton when he murdered Mr Abdirahman.

He was told he must serve at least 13 years in prison.

After sentencing, Mrs Mason spoke of her feelings for the victim's family but said she too felt like she 'had lost a son'.

She also denied that Andre was still a member of the gang.

Germaine, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica but has dual nationality because his father is English, was chosen to to represent Britain in 2006.

He is close friends with Usain Bolt, the world's fastest man and winner of three gold medals at Beijing.

Earl wrote:A 13-year prison sentence for the crime of murder is nothing! (What about the sentence that the murder victim has received? How long does that last?) And that soft sentence should be reduced? Give me a break! As happens so often, attention is focused on the murderer while the murder victim is often forgotten. How about the surviving loved ones of the victim and the deep grief that they experience? The parents of murdered children frequently have their lives ruined. I'm sick and tired of the misplaced compassion that bleeding hearts have for murderers.

Polite24 wrote:The guy who committed the murder is not an athlete...

Polite24 wrote:The guy who committed the murder is not an athlete...

From the article wrote:The court heard how Andre, now 16, was a promising student and athlete who had won several trophies in junior athletic competitions.

Sergey wrote:

Polite24 wrote:The guy who committed the murder is not an athlete...

Lol? So what are you trying to say Tyranid? That murder is fine if it wasn't an athlete who did it? Well Tyranid, that's why you got kicked out of the Ork Faction.