TO friends and family they were just ordinary lads — neighbours did not have a bad word to say about them.

But on the evening of December 21 last year, these ordinary lads turned into killers.

Jason Bolton and Andrew Smith murdered innocent father-of-three Asaf Ahmed, ruining his family’s lives forever, as well as their own.

Even minutes after killing Mr Ahmed, schoolboy Smith effortlessly slipped back into his normal, typical routine — returning home to offer his mum a cup of tea and playing with his baby sister on the living room floor. It was a million miles away from how he had acted with Bolton.

That Friday night, the pair were out for violence. For Asaf Ahmed was not the only innocent man they attacked in a frenzy that night.

The former Ladybridge High pupils shared a few cans of super strength lager before they went into town looking for bother.

They did not find any but, as they returned home and walked along Deane Road, they came across Mark Hampson — and that was when their night of violence began.

They pounced upon Mr Hampson and punched and hit him. But at 5ft 10ins, and 16 stone, he was able to fight back, unlike Mr Ahmed.

They blocked his path and Smith went at him. He took another swing at Mr Hampson and tried to punch him, but Mr Hampson managed to push him off. Smith went at him again, this time to the back of his head.

Mr Hampson was able to escape his attackers and the pair walked off, towards the Derby Ward Labour Club.

And only Bolton and Smith really know what happened after that.

Mr Justice MacDuff believed they saw Mr Ahmed as he crossed Deane Road, on his way back from buying a can of pop, and chased him to the back of the club.

As Mr Ahmed desperately tried to get help from the club they laid into him, spraying blood over the doors.

Or perhaps he was just sitting on the back steps, as the prosecution alleged, and he was an easy target they could not resist.

Either way, Mr Ahmed did not stand a chance. It was two against one and he was a small man at just 5ft 5ins, weighing just seven stone. They punched him, kicked him, stamped and jumped on him as he sat on the step behind the club — which was hosting a children’s Christmas party.

The pair fled, but Bolton returned. As Mr Ahmed reached up for help, Bolton laid into him again and then left him to die.

Members of the club and neighbours desperately tried to save him, but there was nothing they could do. He lay dead in a pool of blood, his asthma inhaler in his hand, with the canister for the inhaler a short distance away.

Staff at the club were forced to abandon the celebrations and escort the children out the front door in an attempt to shield them from the horrific scenes behind the club.

Bolton returned to the scene shortly afterwards, where he was arrested. His shoes, socks and trousers were covered in Mr Ahmed’s blood. He told officers he had returned for the coat of his friend, Andrew Smith.

Police looked up every Andrew Smith in the area — there was only one.

Smith fled home after the attack. Minutes before, he had killed a man in cold blood.

But the 15-year-old schoolboy simply walked through the door, asked his mum if she wanted a cup of tea and ran upstairs to get changed and hide his blood-stained clothes.

It was then he made a film on his mobile phone of his face, proudly boasting of his “eyes of a killer” — a video which would later incriminate him.

He then returned downstairs to entertain his baby sister.

He fell asleep on the couch and was still there when police came knocking at 5am the following morning.