A "brutal bully" who battered a disabled man to death before getting a vulnerable accomplice to dump his body, has been jailed for a minimum of 23 years.

Lee Irving, who had profound learning difficulties, died in June 2015 after a sustained beating from James Wheatley, 29.

Wheatley's attack on Mr Irving at his house Newcastle was so bad experts likened the 24-year-old's injuries to those sustained by someone in a car crash.

Wheatley's mother Julie Mills, 52, his then girlfriend Nicole Lawrence, 22, and his accomplice Barry Imray, 35, who also has learning difficulties, were present in the house, but did nothing to protect Mr Irving, who believed he was among friends when he moved into the house.

On Wheatley's instructions, Imray wheeled Mr Irving's body 800 metres in a pushchair and dumped it beside a footpath.

Mr Justice Soole, sentencing at Newcastle Crown Court, jailed Wheatley for life with a minimum term of 23 years for murder.

He said: "You are a vicious and brutal bully, prone to sudden and explosive acts of sustained violence."

One aggravating factor was the vulnerability of his victim.

The judge said: "He was both unable and unwilling to resist and you knew it.

"There is a special revulsion for the assault and abuse of the vulnerable."

During a two-month trial, the jury heard Wheatley intended to get cash from Mr Irving's account and "hammer loads" on his card.

The judge jailed Mills for eight years for causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Lawrence was convicted of the same offences and was jailed for four years.

Imray had previously admitted perverting the course of justice and was convicted of causing or allowing Mr Irving's death and was jailed for three years.