Shaun Woodburn's dad's fury as bomb victim thief given same sentence as killer

Kevin Woodburn expressed his fury over the matching sentences on Twitter today.

Shaun’s loved ones have been campaigning for tougher sentencing after his 16-year-old attacker was jailed for four years in November last year.

And now the sentencing of Chris Parker, who stole a purse and an iPhone in the aftermath of the terror attack, has baffled his dad.

Mindless yob trashed memorial to tragic Shaun Woodburn

Kevin tweeted this afternoon: “A homeless beggar jailed for four years for stealing from victims of bombing, a despicable crime and deserved sentence.

“Now someone explain to me how my sons 16-year-old killer got the same for taking Shaun’s life. Where do we value a life in our society? Change it.

He added: “#justiceforshaun.”

The post racked up over 100 likes and 50 retweets in just over half an hour.

Mikey Neri said: “That sounds about right Kevin #f******uselessjusticesystem.”

Lorna Aitken added: “Terrible.”

Parker was yesterday jailed for four years and three months for the thefts from victims of the Manchester bombing at an Ariana Grande concert.

He was originally hailed as a hero after the attack having claimed to have helped some of the wounded victims.

CCTV recovered by police showed him wandering the foyer of the arena amid the dying and injured, stealing from victims including a survivor whose teenage granddaughter was killed.

Parker - who claimed his “gut instinct” had been to stay and help - also took graphic photos of the wounded as they received medical treatment, and sold images to a reporter.

The judge who sentenced him said: “You were not the hero you pretended to be - you were just a common thief.”

Late last year Kevin Woodburn launched a petition urging the government to give his son’s killer a tougher sentence - and got 10,000 backers in the first 10 hours.

Mr Woodburn died after he was attacked by a teenager in the early hours of January 1, 2017, in Leith.

The former Bonnyrigg Rose FC football player died after suffering massive head injuries.

The teenager, who is now 17 and cannot be named because of his age, was jailed for four years after a jury returned a verdict of culpable homicide.

He had committed several other assaults during the night along with his friend Mohammed Zakariyah, targeting innocent members of the public at random.

Zakariyah was found guilty of assault and given community service.