THE FAMILY of Michael Toomey have spoken of the anguish they have suffered since his brutal murder.
Mr Toomey, 18, was expecting his first child with his partner when he was viciously beaten to death in Liverpool in April 2022.
His killers — four men and a 14-year-old boy — were handed life sentences on Friday.
In a victim impact statement read out in court, Mr Toohey's family revealed he was excited for the future and wanted to leave his past behind him.
'Horrific'
"On April 16, 2022 our young child Michael Toohey was brutally beaten to death," read the statement.
"We received a phone call and rushed to the scene; there we witnessed the most horrific thing that will haunt us for the rest of our lives.
"Michael was lying motionless with paramedics doing CPR.
"Our mother crying desperately and begging for them to save her young child.
"Michael was 18 years old, the youngest of our family hence we call him our young child.
"He had his whole life ahead of him, he had a baby on the way.
Mr Toohey was due to become a father (Image: Merseyside Police)"He had started to turn his life around, moved into a new home with his partner and working with his brother in-law.
"Michael was excited and making future [plans] for the arrival of his baby, wanting to leave the past behind him and focus on his future goals.
"Michael was a loving son, a kind-hearted brother who would do anything for his sisters and devoted to his nieces and nephews.
"The impact which his tragic death has had on our family is something we fear will never ease or end."
Mr Toohey's murder is the second tragedy his family have suffered, after his cousin Johnny Delaney was killed in 2003 at the age of 15.
The Liverpool Echo reports that two people were found guilty of manslaughter in relation to the death of Delaney, who came from an Irish Traveller family.
'Heartbroken souls'
In their victim impact statement, Mr Toohey's relatives revealed how this latest tragedy had affected all generations of the family, from his grief-stricken parents to his son, who will never meet his father.
"Our mother cries constantly and refuses to leave her bed for days on end, often waking up screaming in the night," continued the statement.
"She has been diagnosed with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, due to the things she witnessed that fatal day.
"We have watched our mother and father deteriorate, from the fun-loving parents and grandparents, into the heartbroken souls they've become."
The family added: "We have watched Michael's partner having to raise their baby boy on her own, as his daddy has been cruelly taken from him.
"Baby Michael Jr will never have that father and son bond, his daddy will not teach him to ride a bike, his daddy will not take him to football practice, all the things that a father and son should do together.
"That will not now happen, as our own young child was brutally beaten, and his life taken that day.
"Michael Jr must grow up and one day learn that his daddy was taken from him in the most unlawful way."
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