Well, Remember Brandon, It's 'Along', Not 'Across'...

A homophobic man who beat a gay couple unconscious has a 'compassionate' side and has become 'suicidal' in jail, says his advocate.

...and make sure you cut deep enough. 

Brandon Taylor, previously of Newtown Road, Worcester, was detained in a Young Offender Institution for nine and a half years at Worcester Crown Court last Friday. This followed a spate of violence which rendered the couple unconscious, one suffering a broken nose and the other a broken jaw and with an open gash on his temple.

Both victims ended up in a trauma unit following the attack in Malvern on September 20.

It's another example of the violence that plagues our streets at night, of course: 

Even when one of the victims got down on his knees and begged the gang to stop, telling them they were pacifists, Taylor and others carried on with the attack.

And he has quite the record, at such a young age: 

The 19-year-old was jailed for grievous bodily harm with intent, wounding, three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, robbery, common assault, breaches of a criminal behaviour order, assaulting an emergency worker and three thefts.

It makes sickening reading: 

During his campaign of violence he threw a pool ball in a man's face in the Horn and Trumpet pub in Worcester, punched and bit a man in McDonald's, robbed someone of a skateboard, swung a punch at an Asda security guard in the city, stole beer, flouted a criminal behaviour order and bit a city police officer. As previously reported, Taylor was jailed for seven and a half years for the attack on the gay couple but must serve this consecutively to a two year sentence for all other matters.

But his hired mouthpiece isn't going to let that stop her! 

Elizabeth Power, defending, said her client's most powerful mitigation was his guilty pleas to all matters.

Given he's made no attempt to hide any of it, in the teeth of forensic, CCTV and eyewitness evidence, what other choice did he really have? 

Ms Power added: "This is a young man who suffers, and has suffered for some considerable period of time, with depression. He was rendered homeless at the age of 13. He is someone who has been in a crowd now for a number of years taking illicit substances."

None of that should be mitigation, it should be aggravating circumstances... 

The barrister told the judge most of the offences were committed in drink or under the influence of drugs.

Ditto! 

"This is somebody who does have empathy and compassion", she told the court. She added: "This is not a man who is devoid of empathy or care and compassion for others."

He hides it pretty well, then.