TWO Ellesmere men must pay £4,000 in compensation to a man they kicked while on the floor four years ago in ‘out-of-character’ attack, but were spared jail.

Joshua Jones, 23 and of Grosvenor Road and Toby Read, 24 and of Brownlow Road, were sentenced to a two-year community order at Shrewsbury by Recorder A Jack on Friday, July 19.

They had both previously pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm in August 2021 at Telford Magistrates Court but have only now been sentenced after charges against other defendants were dropped because of 'inconclusive' phone footage.

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Recorder Jack was told that in July 2020, victim Edward Wainwright had been playing cricket in Ellesmere before joining friends for a night out shortly after the first lockdown was eased.

Mr Beardwell said Mr Wainright had drunk around four pints and described himself as ‘cheery’ but others, including one witness who tried to escort him home, said he was drunk.

He was being taken home by Joanne Goode when a group of men, including Jones, then 19, and Read, then 20, began to taunt and follow him.

This escalated to a fight where the defendants, Roberts and other men attacked Mr Wainwright and aimed kicks at him on the floor.

The court heard from Mr Beardwell that Ms Goode said the victim was no longer defending himself, meaning he had been knocked unconscious, and that both defendants kicked him.

Mr Beardwell said that initially Read said Mr Wainwright was the aggressor and denied kicking him while Jones told police he kicked the victim because he wanted him to stay down.

In mitigation, Kevin Jones – for Read – showed the court CCTV showing he kicked the victim only once and that he was ‘deeply remorseful’ for his actions.

Mr Jones added that the incident was not ‘prolonged or persistent’ and came from a period of animosity between his client and Mr Wainwright.

Olivia Appleby, for Jones, also said that he showed remorse and no longer drank, and was due for a promotion at his place of work because of the trust shown in him.

She said that he was now in a long-term relationship and was willing to pay compensation to his victim.

Sentencing the pair, Recorder Jack said: “You were involved in a disgraceful incident where you and a number of young men attacked the victim on the street.

“You are men of previous good character and this was just short of four years ago and you’ve kept out of trouble since.

“I can describe this as completely out of character.

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“I can go outside of the sentencing guidelines because of circumstances which were out of your control.

“I’m quite sure any sentence you’d have been given in 2021 would have been suspended and that hasn’t changed.”

Both men were ordered to pay £2,000 each to Mr Wainwright at £80 a month, sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £150 in costs.