TWO drug-dealing brothers were today jailed for life for beating a 25-year-old man to death with a brandy bottle as his girlfriend looked on.

Gangsters Jaime and Hernan Ramirez left a scene resembling a "massacre" after bludgeoning Kennie Williams over the head in his living room in Reigate.

Mr Williams was hit at least 14 times with the Courvoisier bottle as his girlfriend's 18-month-old daughter slept next door.

Judge Giles Forrester told the brothers, who carried out the attack because of a row over drugs, that they must each serve a minimum term of 22 years. He said: "You two vicious killers will now be off the streets for a long time."

Yesterday an Old Bailey jury found both father-of-three Hernan Ramirez, 29, of Woodfield Road, Northgate, Crawley, and Jaime Ramirez, 31, guilty of murder.

The court heard that both men had been in jail before for dealing in class A drugs and employed Mr Williams as a runner.

They believed he was trying to poach customers from their drug-dealing business in Crawley and Reigate.

The men went to the home Mr Williams and his girlfriend shared in Stockton Road, in February last year where they sat with Mr Williams drinking from the brandy bottle amid a tense atmosphere, before first Hernan, then Jaime, launched the attack as he sat on the sofa, fracturing his skull.

Mr Williams died in hospital two days later.

The judge said: "The attack was brutal and sustained. You showed him no mercy. The scene you left behind resembled a massacre."

He praised the "courageous" actions of the victim's girlfriend Katrina Sinnick in coming forward despite being threatened.

The judge said: "That is how gangsters such as you get their way. They beat and bully their victims as you did."

During the trial jurors were told the Courvoisier bottle made a "crunch" sound as it was used repeatedly to strike the victim's head, but did not smash.

Sasha Wass QC, prosecuting, said: "Kennie Williams was subjected to a sustained attack while he was either sitting or lying on the sofa."

Miss Sinnick said his face was left "unrecognisable" and covered in blood.

Jaime Ramirez lived with his mother at Glenarm Road, Hackney, east London.

Detective Inspector Paul Monk, who led the investigation, said: "Becoming involved in crime puts people at much greater risk of becoming victims of crime. However, the actions of Kennie Williams' associates were extreme and brutal. This was a vicious and sustained attack.

"The successful convictions of Jamie and Hernan Ramirez further underline Surrey Police's continued determination to bring offenders to justice. We hope this brings some comfort to the family of Kennie Williams at this difficult time."

Mr Williams' parents, Derek and Linda, said: "Kennie was a son whom we loved deeply. Drugs became a major part of his world and a destructive life followed. We hope that Kennie's death is a warning to those involved in the drug world, especially those in Crawley.

"We hope that they realise that drugs can sometimes mean you pay the ultimate price - life."