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Three years for youths who fatally beat teen in Cloverdale

Matthew Skura's killers sentenced.
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Syd Skura says there will be no closure for him or his family after the murder of his son Matthew Skura.

Last week, Syd Skura finally cashed in the birthday present he received from his son, two years after the 18-year-old was beaten to death in a church parking lot in Cloverdale.

He had been holding on to a Golf Town gift card ever since.

The store honoured the certificate last week, when Skura purchased a GPS range finder.

The one condition his son had when he gave him the gift, Skura said, was that he buy something they both could use.

On Wednesday, Syd Skura attended the sentencing hearing of two youth convicted in December 2010 of  killing his son Matthew Skura on May 28, 2009.

Matthew SkuraJustice Sunni Stromberg-Stein sentenced the two teens to the maximum three years allowable for manslaughter under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Under the act, the youth cannot be identified publicly.

The youth who sucker-punched Skura, knocking him to the ground, was given credit for 13 months served, so he will remain in custody for another 23 months.

The youth who stomped on Skura after the punch has already been in jail for two years, and was released Wednesday.

The beating lasted from 15 to 18 seconds, said Stromberg-Stein.

"No one expected another to lose his life," she said. "But that's the reality."

The two teens are subject to several bail conditions, including staying away from each other, drugs and alcohol, and not to go near the Cloverdale Millennium Amphitheatre.

Matthew's father said the sentences will not bring closure for him or his family.

"Nothing that was done today is going to change the impact it's had on our family," Skura said after the sentencing. "It's with us for the rest of our lives."

The only thing that will matter,  he said, is if he hears the two boys have made something of their lives over time.

"They're going to have to live with this for the rest of their lives," Skura said. "And so will we. The main difference is, they have their lives, Matt doesn't."

Skura said he had hoped part of the release conditions would have had the teens go to schools and warn other kids about the costs of losing their temper and getting into fights.

"I want this to mean something, not just the loss of our son," Skura said. "To mean something to other people, so hat it doesn't happen again."

kdiakiw@surreyleader.com