The little boy who will grow up without his dad because of a cowardly killer

It was one for the family scrapbook. Little Frankie, surrounded by his loving parents on a day out at the beach. Vinny McDonagh loved being a dad. He was looking forward to the years of watching his son grow into a man.

But all that was ripped away in an instant, when he was brutally murdered by a man who he'd shown nothing but kindness. Vinny, 45, had lent Lee Burns £20 before so they could go for a drink at the pub together.

Burns repaid that goodwill with unspeakable violence, in a killing which has had devastating repercussions. After punching, kicking and stamping on Vinny's head in an argument over ‘nothing’, Burns just walked away and left him dying on the pavement.

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As well as having a young son, who is just four, Vinny was engaged and was planning to get married. Instead of planning their big day, his partner Demi Leigh Sykes had to call a priest, to arrange for his body to be blessed in a hospital mortuary.

She bravely faced her fiancé's killer in court when Burns was handed a life sentence on Wednesday. Demi, from Oldham, wept as she told Burns exactly what his cowardly behaviour had meant to her family.

After the hearing at Manchester Crown Court, in which Burns was ordered to serve at least 21 years in jail, Demi described the experience of 'looking at the man that has taken everything away from us'. "It was horrible," she told the Manchester Evening News. "He has given us a life sentence. I hope he suffers. He doesn't deserve to be living.

"Even when I was looking at him reading my statement, there was nothing there. I can't even explain how I feel. I don't think there are any words." Burns, 38, showed no