TWO men who assaulted the same victim within minutes of each other were jailed for nine months yesterday after a court heard how neither could be definitely blamed for breaking the man's jaw.

Shaun Dryden told Teesside Crown Court that Craig Lloyd had been in Yates' Wine Lodge, Hartlepool, when he was set upon by his first attacker, Neil Flounders.

Both were ejected from the pub and Flounders, a black- belt in martial arts, continued punching his victim outside, said Mr Dryden.

Flounders, 31, of Skylark Court, Hartlepool, then left the scene and Mr Lloyd sat on a wall nearby, the court heard.

While he was there, John Alton, also 31, of Harcourt Street, in the town, walked past, but returned to land a punch on Mr Lloyd's face, said Mr Dryden.

A trial last month saw video footage of Flounders' assault outside the pub and heard how Mr Lloyd had suffered a broken jaw, although it could not be proved which attacker caused the injury. Both men were found guilty of causing affray on the night in June last year.

Jamie Hill, for Flounders, and Amanda Perry, for Alton, described their clients as hard-working family men who, although they had been in trouble when they were younger, were maturing and brushes with the law were becoming less frequent.

They added that neither man had appeared in crown court before and that without charges of assault, which were eventually dropped by the prosecution, this case would have been dealt with by magistrates.

Mr Hill said: "There were two bits of action which were both self-contained and over very quickly."

Judge George Moorhouse said the initial attack by Flounders followed a threat to one of Mr Lloyd's friends earlier in the night.