TWO yobs celebrated after being given suspended jail sentences for kicking and punching a man as he lay on the ground.

Corey Savory and Thomas Vernon grinned, held their arms aloft and gave thumbs up gestures as they left Teesside Crown Court.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/11791055.Thugs_who_laugh_at_justice_and_why_so_many_decent_people_get_angry_with_the_law___COMMENT/

The pair’s legal representatives had earlier spoken of their remorse at the attack, in Redcar, which left the victim with permanent scarring to his forehead.

Savory, of High Street, Redcar, and Vernon, of Wilton Bank, Saltburn, both admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm on March 30 last year.

Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, said Savory kicked the complainant’s torso and both men punched him repeatedly.

Seconds earlier the victim had been knocked to the ground by a third unknown man. The attack was captured on CCTV and footage of it was played to the judge, Recorder Sarah Mallett.

Uzma Khan, for Savory, said he was “utterly remorseful”. She said the two friends had never set out to cause any injury.

Graham Brown, for Vernon, said the two men, both aged 23, took advantage of the situation in a joint assault which lasted 30 seconds.

Recorder Mallett said: “He [the victim] was already on the floor and he wasn’t doing anything provocative.

“These are nasty injuries.”

The defendants were each handed an eight month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and were both ordered to pay £100 compensation.