Two convicted for brutal beating

Two men were convicted for beating a third man so brutally last year that he ended up in a coma and will need care for the rest of his life in Austria.

The court in the western city of Feldkirch sentenced one of the defendants - a 24-year-old - to nine years in prison, and the other, aged 21, to eight years. Police described the two as skinheads, but did not identify them by name.

The victim - a 20-year-old German national, according to broadcaster ORF - had been sleeping on a bench in the neighboring German town of Lindau one morning in August 2006 when the two defendants came upon him and started their assault. The victim was in a coma for weeks.

Before the verdict was announced, the men confessed to the crime, apologized to the man's relatives and said they wanted to start a new life, ORF reported.