TWO youths who launched a ‘repeated and sustained assault’ on an innocent man in the street and left him with a broken leg have been jailed.

Ryan Baldwin, 19, and Ryan William Daniel, 18, both admitted a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm in relation to an attack on a 53-year-old man.

Heather Shimmen, prosecuting, said the victim – who spoke to the Echo after the sentencing and asked not to be named – was walking along Kitchener Road in Weymouth at around 8pm on May 21.

She said he was walking home from an exercise class when he passed the two defendants, who had both been drinking, and Baldwin tapped him on the shoulder and pushed him.

The victim responded by pushing him back and Baldwin began to throw punches at the man.

He was later joined in the attack by Daniel, whom the man claimed caught him with a ‘hard blow’ to his left ear.

Miss Shimmen said: “It was that which knocked him off balance, it was such a hard blow.

“He fell into a parked car and on to the floor.”

Miss Shimmen said when he was on the floor the victim was repeatedly kicked to the head and body, with a witness claiming to see both defendants landing blows with their feet.

The incident only ended when a passing motorist stopped his car and intervened and the two defendants left the scene.

They were later arrested after being seen on CCTV re-enacting the attack to friends outside the Moonfleet Bowls Club.

Robert Pawson, representing Baldwin, said his client was deeply ashamed of his behaviour.

He said: “He realises the impact of his actions on an entirely innocent member of the public.”

Baldwin, of Queensland Road, Weymouth, also admitted breaching of a conditional discharge relating to three offences of criminal damage.

Tim Shorter, mitigating on behalf of Daniel, said that his client was also full of remorse and his actions were uncharacteristic of a ‘young man of excellent character’.

He added that, while Daniel accepted his actions had been ‘unforgivable’, he would never have got involved in the incident had Baldwin not confronted the victim in the first place.

Recorder Michael Selfe sentenced Baldwin, who pleaded guilty after initially denying the offence at a plea and case management hearing, to two-and-a-half years in prison for the charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

He was also sentenced to a further six weeks for the breach of the conditional discharge.

Daniel, of Pulham Avenue, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, received a two-year sentence as he pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Recorder Selfe said: “This was an unprovoked attack upon a man minding his own business – a man aged 53 who you, in a drunken loss of temper, assaulted causing him in my judgement serious injuries.”

He added: “It was a repeated and sustained assault.”