A judgesentenced a gang of baseball bat wielding teenage thugs to more than 40years in prison after accusing them of carrying out a sickening crimespree for 'pleasure'.JudgeWilliam Kennedy handed extended sentences of detention, ranging betweeneight and 10 years, to Yusuf Akram, 18, Usamah Aftab, 18, Mohammed Ali,18, Thamid Zaman, 17 and Hamzah Jawyd, 17, at Snaresbrook Crown Court.Thegroup roamed the streets of east London looking for lone men to attackand struck each of their victims to the back of the head with a baseballbat, before kicking and punching them.After targeting the men the group then stole phones, cash cards and Oyster cards.Allthe defendants admitted conspiracy to rob and Judge Kennedy said theywould have received sentences of up to 20 years if had they been adultsat the time of committing the offence.He also branded the robberies as 'almost incidental' to the extreme violence used.Hesaid: 'Whilst by your pleas of guilty you admit a conspiracy to rob,the reality is that this was primarily a conspiracy to cause extremelysevere and potentially fatal injuries to innocent members of the public.'The robbery after the infliction of such injury was almost incidental.'To go out with a baseball bat demonstrates a settled preparedness to seriously wound.'Itsuse before any demands are made of victims clearly demonstrates apre-planned determination to cause dreadful injury for no other reasonthan the pleasure of doing so.'Thevictims of the crime spree were left with life-changing injuriesincluding brain injuries, a broken neck and extensive facial fractures.Thecareer of pilot Arfath Miah was left in tatters after the attack causedhim to be suspended from flying for three years and he also stillrequires a frame to walk.The callous and vicious gang, who smirked, hugged and shook hands with each other before leaving the dock, hit across two days.MohammedMunshi was battered to the ground and left with acute haemorrhage tothe left side of his brain, in Harold Road, Forest Gate, on March 7.Thefollowing night, at around 10pm, another victim was beaten with a batin Hatherley Gardens, East Ham, and his iPhone was taken.Just 40 minutes later, a man was attacked from behind for his cash, Oyster card and mobile phone.He suffered a fractured skull and a brain haemorrhage.Aftab sent a congratulatory message to Jawyd the day after and later offered the stolen phone for sale.On March 9, another victim was savagely attacked in Blenheim Road, East Ham.Heheard the youths counting down 'three, two, one' before they hit himover the head with the bat leaving a 4cm gash to the back of his head.The gang then made their way to Henniker Gardens and attacked Essen Mohammed for his wallet and mobile phone.Two hours later pilot Mr Miah was knocked unconscious and left with a fractured skull.A seventh robbery took place the following evening, after Mohammed Khan was approached by the group and asked for directions.Akramdrew the bat from under his clothing and struck the man from behind andbeat him repeatedly while he lay unconscious and defenceless on thefloor.MrMohammed sustained extensive facial fractures, a fractured skull andbleeding requiring hospitalisation for a month and is still having hisspeech capacity rebuilt.Thelast robbery took place less than an hour later in Stone Road, ManorPark, where the man was left with a fractured neck, extensive skull andfacial fractures along with brain injuries.Akramand Zaman made off with the man's phone, cash card, money and Oystercard while the victim also lost his job as a chef when he was unable towork.JudgeKennedy said there was no need for the gang to use violence as thenumber of them involved would be enough to intimidate victims intohanding over their belongings.Hesaid: 'The use of a baseball bat before the taking of relatively minoritems of personal property clearly shows an intention to commit moreserious harm than such street robbery would ordinarily have involved.'Itis likely that the sheer force of numbers of you defendants would havebeen sufficient to persuade each of these victims to hand over hisproperty without the need for any violence at all.