THREE young men have been spared jail after admitting their part in a terrifying group revenge attack at a Flintshire barber shop.

Billy Unsworth, aged 22 and of Cleveland Grove in Garden City, appeared for sentence at Mold Crown Court on Thursday alongside co-defendants 20-year-old Toby Cragg, of Cwrt Jones in Penymynydd, and 20-year-old Joe Young, of Deans Close in Bagillt.

The three had previously admitted an offence of violent disorder, with Cragg having also been convicted of possession of cannabis.

Karl Scholz, prosecuting, set out the circumstances of the offence, which took place on October 7 last year at a barber shop on Connah's Quay High Street.

The victim, 22 year-old Leon Sumner, was sat in the barber's chair receiving a hair cut when a group of five males entered the shop.

Mr Sumner was pulled from the chair and was repeatedly assaulted with kicks, stamps, punches and participants jumping up and down forcefully on his body.

However, Mr Scholz explained neither he nor the staff of the barber shop would give any details to police as to what they saw for fear of repercussions.

He said:" We are to understand a pair of scissors had been stabbed into his shoulder, but he didn't give us access to obtain medical records so we have no medical evidence to give to the court.

"The belief is that this was a planned, targeted operation.

"It must have been a terrifying incident for Leon Sumner himself."

The three defendants before the court were the only ones to have been conclusively identified from CCTV footage, which was played during the course of the sentencing hearing.

At one point in the video, the court heard, the scissors appeared to be "embedded" in the victim.

Mr Scholz pointed out that shockingly, a young boy also was having his hair cut in the shop at the time, and another young child ran from the door as the gang came in.

He dropped his toy, and turned to retrieve it before running to safety.

Judge Niclas Parry said the image of the boy collecting his toy and fleeing as the gang set upon the victim would be "ingrained in the memory of anyone who watched" the footage.

Peter Barnett, defending Cragg, said: "He clearly shows a lack of maturity in his consequential thinking.

"I suggest there is remorse - he didn't understand the seriousness of what he was getting involved in.

"He played a part. I can only say he played a lesser role than some of the other parties.

"He is currently in employment, which he has been for two years and has a good work ethic."

John Wyn Williams, defending Unsworth, said: "This was clearly a dreadful case of public violence aggravated by the presence of a young child, the fact this was pre-meditated and it was a group attack on a vulnerable man just in the barbers having his hair cut."

He added Unsworth had once had a "promising boxing career" ahead of him and had represented his country when asked to attend the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

But that career was ended when he was involved in a car accident, the court heard.

Mr Wyn Williams said his client may have been the subject of peer pressure, and that he was addicted to cocaine - but has since "turned his life around" and been sober for eight months.

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Gareth Bellis, defending Young, said: "This was an appalling episode of public violence and Your Honour faces a stark choice today: whether of not Mr Young goes into custody or is rehabilitated in the community.

"He was 19 at the time and is a woodworker of hitherto good character."

He invited the Judge to impose an onerous suspended sentence to allow his client to address "what put him in this position in the first place - drugs."

Mr Bellis said his client has "an addiction to ketamine." 

Judge Parry told the three defendants: "Appalling, disgraceful, terrifying...

"All words properly used by your counsel.

"This was clearly a revenge attack under the influence of drugs and or alcohol.

"It involved weapons - kicking with a shoed foot, as well as the scissors.

"It can only be custody."

However Judge Parry recognised that all three were young and treated them as men of good character.

In respect of each, the Judge imposed a 21 month custodial sentence.

Gasps and sighs of relief, as well as tears from the public gallery, were audible as Judge Parry announced the custodial terms would be suspended for two years.

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The Judge decided that the public would be "far better served" by the defendants being rehabilitated.

All three must comply with an electronically monitored curfew until September 19, as well as paying £400 costs.

Cragg and Young were handed 250 hours of unpaid work, while Unsworth was handed 120 hours of unpaid work and 30 days of rehabilitation activity.

"There is clearly a realistic prospect of rehabilitation," the Judge said.

"I am not going to ruin your lives because of that one incident."