Exeter Court Reporter Ted Davenport writes for the Herald.

A pair of friends have been ordered to pay compensation to a student who they attacked after a scuffle in a nightclub.

Amateur footballers Lewis Cottam and Finley Rooke travelled from their homes in Seaton, to Exeter for a night out and were filmed carrying out the attack near the Timepiece nightclub.

There had been a minor incident inside the club in which one of their shirts had got ripped and they pursued a customer out of the venue and caught up with him 100 metres away in Musgrave Row.

Cottam broke his jaw with a punch to the face and both men piled in after he fell to the ground. He was knocked unconscious before Rooke came to his senses and flagged down a passing car to seek medical help for the victim.

The entire incident was caught on CCTV and a judge at Exeter Crown Court described their behaviour as ‘mindless violence’ before passing suspended sentences.

The victim was a student who woke up in hospital with a double fracture to his jaw that forced him to eat pureed food for weeks. He wrote an impact statement saying he had to miss a university sports trip to Budapest and is now wary about going out in Exeter.

Cottam, aged 25, of Harbour Road, Seaton, admitted causing grievous bodily harm and was jailed for 18 months, suspended for two years and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work and pay £1,000 compensation.

Rooke, aged 20, of Elizabeth Road, Seaton, admitted causing actual bodily harm and was jailed for eight months, suspended for two years and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work and pay £500 compensation.

Recorder Mr Donald Tait told them: “I hope you are thoroughly ashamed for yourselves. You are otherwise two decent lads but this mindless violence on the streets is happening day in day out and involving men who have had too much to drink.”

Mr Nick Lewin, prosecuting, said the violence started after an earlier incident in the Timepiece in the early hours of May 28 last year in which Cottam’s shirt had been torn.

He played CCTV from Musgrave Row which showed Cottam punching the victim and dragging him to the ground where Rooke joined the attack briefly before stopping and trying to help the unconscious man.

He said both men had been horrified at their behaviour when shown the CCTV in police interviews. Cottam said he was disgusted with himself. Rooke said he had tried to get between the two others but described his own behaviour was ‘not great’.

Mr Joss Ticehurst, for Cottam, said he has no previous convictions, acted completely out of character and is appalled by his actions. He is working for his father’s company in Seaton and can pay compensation.

Miss Kelly Scrivener, for Rooke, said he also works for his father and is a talented footballer who hopes to play at semi professional level. He is also remorseful and played a much lesser role in the attack for a short time before he sought help for the victim.