A “DANGEROUS” teenager who bragged to friends after leaving a homeless man close to death has failed to persuade top judges his sentence was too harsh.

Kane Luke Price was just 15 when he attacked homeless Latvian man Vladimirs Kazlausks, battering him repeatedly with a length of wood as his victim sheltered in an underpass near Kingsway, Newport, in May last year.

His accomplice, Ashley Farrow, then 17, watched as Price beat Mr Kazlausks before the pair fled, London’s Appeal Court heard.

Although Farrow, of York Place, Newport, was not found to have personally inflicted any of the blows, he was “fully committed to the enterprise”, Lord Justice Jackson said yesterday.

It was “only by good fortune” that Mr Kazlausks escaped death, added the judge, having been rushed to hospital after passers-by called emergency services.

There was no remorse shown by Price, who later bragged that “he had hit the victim about 40 times”.

The pair were each convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent after standing trial at Cardiff Crown Court last November, but were cleared of attempting to murder the 54-year-old.

Price was detained for seven and a half years, with a four-year extended licence period, whilst Farrow was locked up for six years, with a three-and-a-half-year extended licence.

Their appeals against their extended sentences were turned down by Lord Justice Jackson, who was sitting with Mr Justice Holroyde and Mr Justice Singh.

The judge said Price, now 16, had rightly been categorised as a “dangerous offender” from whom the public needed protection.

The attack left the victim with savage multiple fractures, the court heard, also leaving him blind in one eye.

“This was a truly horrific attack,” said Lord Justice Jackson.

“The charge which they faced could very well have been murder.”