<p><br /> Three men have been given life sentences for killed an IT expert after snatching his girlfriend's Halloween hat.<br /> </p><p><br /> Ben Gardner, 30, was punched to the ground where he lay helpless as one of the men kicked his head "as if taking a penalty".<br /> </p><p><br /> Allanna Devine, 28, was also punched in the attack on October 31 last year, the Old Bailey heard.<br /> </p><p><br /> Daniel Ransom, 21, Ross Collender, 21, and Jordan Dixon, 18, all of Carshalton, were jailed at the Old Bailey for the murder.<br /> </p><p><br /> Ransom and Collender were handed a minimum 16 year prison term and Dixon was given 14 years inside.<br /> </p><p><br /> Mr Gardner, who worked for insurance firm Legal & General, had been to a club with Miss Devine to celebrate her birthday and Halloween.<br /> </p><p><br /> She was dressed in a pirate's outfit, with a black wig and hat. He had a black leather jacket and vampire fangs.<br /> </p><p><br /> In the early hours of the morning, Miss Devine was waiting for Mr Gardner outside a kebab shop in Sutton when a group of men snatched her black hat and wig.<br /> </p><p><br /> Miss Devine broke down as she spoke of Mr Gardner's last moments.<br /> </p><p><br /> She said: "My hat and my wig were taken from my head. I was not concerned about it because it was the end of the evening, but I did say 'Can I have my hat back, please?'<br /> </p><p><br /> "I was greeted by jeering. They were very loud." She was hit when she approached them.<br /> </p><p><br /> Miss Devine added: "Ben decided he was not happy that my wig and hat had been stolen and he was going to approach the group about it."<br /> </p><p><br /> Mr Gardner had said: "I am not a fighter but I have just seen someone hit my girlfriend and I am not standing back and letting you hit my girlfriend."<br /> </p><p><br /> While he was dying, one of the attackers stood over him like a boxing referee and signalled him knocked out.<br /> </p><p><br /> Mr Gardner died in the early hours of November 1 last year from "catastrophic brain damage".<br /> </p><p><br /> Mr Gardner's father, David, said in a statement: "Ben died as a result of the actions of a group of thugs, who decided to attack him for defending his girlfriend after they had physically assaulted her and stolen her Halloween hat.<br /> </p><p><br /> "I cannot forgive these people for what they have done. They have destroyed me and my family for the rest of our lives. I think the people that have done this should pay the ultimate price - death."<br /> </p>
