Sophie Lancaster's mum Sylvia, who has launched the SOPHIE campaign to encourage a greater tolerance, said: "Justice can never be done because it will never bring her back."
About 60 friends of Sophie, many dressed in goth clothes, waited in the street to hear news of the sentencing.
Outside court, Sophie's brother, Adam, 23, said: "We would like to thank everyone for their support.
"Although the sentences seem fitting and appropriate, no sentence is long enough to compensate for the loss of Sophie."
Friend of Sophie, Joe Conboy-Greenwood, 18, of Blackburn Road, Haslingden, said: "We all came down today because everybody wanted to be here to support Sylvia and her family and to give the campaign a boost.
"I think the sentence made an example of them.
"I think the judge was right to see this as a hate crime because of the way they were dressed."
His brother Sam, 21, who hopes to set up a recording studio in Sophie's name, added: "If this ever happens again, and I only hope that it does not, Sophie's case will be used as a reference and people will know that it is not all right to target somebody because of the way they dress."
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