A man who helped beat a gay man to death in Vancouver's Stanley Park was sentenced to six years in prison on Tuesday.

Ryan Cran was convicted of manslaughter in December for killing Aaron Webster in November 2001. Two juveniles were also convicted. Another man named Danny Rao was acquitted.

Webster, 41, was killed in November 2001, in an area of Stanley Park frequented by gay men. He was naked when a gang of youths armed with baseball bats and a pool cue chased him, beat him and left him to die from a torn artery in his neck.

Aaron Webster in a family photo.

On Tuesday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mary Humphries called the gang attack on Webster a "random, cowardly and terrifying act." She said Cran must pay for it with a lengthy sentence.

The defence had asked for a shorter term of two to four years, arguing Cran wasn't the principal attacker.

Representatives of Vancouver's gay community had urged the judge to consider the killing a hate crime.

The Crown sought a sentence of six to nine years.

At a sentencing hearing last month, prosecutor Greg Weber said he had no submissions pertaining to the murder being a hate crime.

The Criminal Code contains a provision that allows a judge to increase sentences for crimes motivated by hate beyond those that would otherwise have been given.

The two juveniles pleaded guilty and were sentenced to two years in custody and a year of house arrest.