Two brothers who attacked a man as late night violence flared in Kendal town centre have been sentenced by a judge.
CCTV captured an initial incident and confrontation as people gathered near the Birdcage structure at the junction of Stricklandgate and Finkle Street just before 12-30am on June 6 last year.
Kelton Knowles, Carlisle Crown Court heard today, was attacked by first Thomas Thornycroft, 28, who felled him with a single punch.
Thornycroft’s younger brother Kevin Newton, who had been celebrating his 18th birthday, then broke from a group of bystanders, stamping on the prone man’s head before kicking him.
People in the area described hearing the sickening noise of Mr Knowles’ head hitting the ground.
“One of the witnesses describes it as one of the most horrible things he has ever seen,” prosecutor Gerard Rogerson told the court.
Mr Knowles was initially discharged from hospital after treatment for lacerations and bruising but later returned, complaining of dizziness, and was found to have a subconjunctival haemorrhage of the left eye, and concussion.
Thornycroft, of Sedbergh Road, Kendal, and Newton, of Church Road, Witherslack, admitted actual bodily harm assault on the basis that the violence was not a joint enterprise. Neither man had any previous convictions but both had since lost doorman licences they had held.
For his role, Newton had a three-month jail term suspended for a year, and must complete 200 hours’ unpaid work and rehabilitation.
Thornycroft was handed an 18-month community order, and must also complete 200 hours’ unpaid work, along with a four-week electronically monitored night time curfew,
Recorder Philip Grundy told Thornycroft: “You are meant to lead by example. You have failed him (Newton), and you failed yourself.”
