Oddly, despite my often draconian stance in regards to murderers etc I do believe that they egged each other on to a degree and their upbringing played a part.
They were certainly demonised in the press with claims of horrors that simply hadn’t happened(I recall paint being poured into his eyes was one claim that was subsequently shown to be a fabrication).
I’m in no way justifying what they did, far from it, just trying to gain a little understanding.
Furthermore, don’t forget that despite the incomprehensible act they committed they were only just deemed fit for trial by virtue of age, whereby the judge decided on their criminal liability, if memory serves me correctly.
In the eyes of some they were still way short of the age where they assume full responsibility(14 years of age in this country).