TWO men were found guilty yesterday of a gay-bashing incident in a seaside night club.

David Hopwood was in hospital for three days after he was beaten unconscious with bottles and kicks on a night out with his family in the Club Kudos, in Redcar, east Cleveland.

Paul Temple and Alan Bennett were arrested in the club and tests discovered the blood of Mr Hopwood, 30, on their clothes.

The judge at Teesside Crown Court told the jury that police breached rules by not holding an identification parade for Temple, 20, and Bennett, 21, but he said there was close range identification from a teenage witness.

The men's defence team claimed there was no case made out because there were 600 customers in the simply-lit club and that it was unfair not to hold an identification parade in sober circumstances.

Temple told police he thought that Mr Hopwood made some form of homosexual advance towards him.

Mr Hopwood said in evidence that it was 1am and he was drunk and he knew nothing until he woke up in Middlesbrough General Hospital.

The prosecution witness, a 17-year-old boy who gave evidence from behind a curtain, said that he saw three men smashing bottles over Mr Hopwood's head and kicking his prone body.

He identified Temple and Bennett later when they were being held by door staff and officers before they were driven off in police vans.

The pair exercised their right not to give evidence. Judge Tony Briggs told the jury: "You are entitled to give consideration to the fact that the two defendants decided not to go into the witness box and give evidence."

After a three-day trial, Temple, of Kielder Close, Redcar, and Bennett, of Blayberry Close, Redcar, were found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on October 26, last year. They were remanded in custody for social inquiry reports before sentence.