A JURY was today told to put emotion aside when considering the case of two alleged vigilantes accused of beating up a convicted child rapist.

Karl Carter, 27, and 30-year-old Michael Loughran are said to have tracked down the teenager to a secret address in Darlington in June.

It is claimed the pair beat the 18-year-old with baseball bats after putting up a £1,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts.

The Middlesbrough men - angry that he had served just 21 months for the sex attack - deny a charge of wounding with intent to cause GBH.

Mr Carter admits travelling with his best friend Mr Loughran to the paedophile's new home, but insists he never got out of their van.

Mr Loughran says he went there to smash windows, and did not expect to see the teenager because he was meant to be on a 7pm to 7am curfew.

The child molester had been released half-way through his sentence, and had been free just ten days before the alleged attack took place.

Yvonne Taylor, for Mr Carter, told the jury of nine men and three women that the defendants did not want the rapist to return to Middlesbrough.

A campaign was launched on Facebook by the boy's mother to alert parents about plans to rehouse the offender in Eston when he was freed.

The jury heard that tensions were running high in the community, and a secret address was found for him in Darlington instead.

Miss Taylor said: "I anticipate we can all have a degree of sympathy for Michael Loughran and Karl Carter, but it is right you put these emotions to one side."

Robert Mochrie, for Mr Loughran, pleaded with the jury to acquit his client and to allow him to return to his family for Christmas.

"Michael Loughran, at the age of 30, is a man of good character. He has now spent five months in prison as a result of what happened," he said.

"You know you are not dealing with a hardened criminal or a man who is well-versed in court procedures or the prison environment. Far from it."

Mr Loughran, of Ryhill Walk, Ormesby, and Mr Carter, of Jubilee Road, Eston, also deny a charge of possessing an offensive weapon on June 28.

Prosecutor Paul Cleasby told the jury: "It is a difficult case because it would be very easy to allow society to be governed by lynch-mob.

"If we start letting that happen, then the rule of law and order is at risk, and chaos soon follows, and there is a risk of further injustice.

"The prosecution say those Facebook posts are clear signposts of the intentions of Michael Loughran and Karl Carter. The mission was clear."

Following the closing speeches from the three lawyers, Judge Tony Briggs was expected to begin his summing-up of the case.