TWO men from Port Glasgow have narrowly missed out on a jail sentence after being found guilty of two assaults within Saltcoats’ Sandylands Caravan Park last year.

John Carter, 21 and Darren McCann, 18, were on trial at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on Thursday of last week and both received a hefty number of hours of unpaid work as a result.

The court heard the two men were in the arcade area of the park and were said to be well under the influence of alcohol.

There was an incident which occurred between the two and another group, which Carter had tried to calm down.

They left after security officers told them to go back to their caravan.

The victim heard of this later in the evening and went to try and sort matters out.

McCann’s defence said that they had told that a group of five or six youths had been making offensive comments and they told them that it wasn’t appropriate.

When Stephen Quinn, the complainer in the charge, attended, the two started to punch and kick him on the head and body before dragging him to the ground and kicking him further on the head.

He managed to break away and went back to his caravan but was followed by the accused and pulled to the ground again.

The court heard that it was unclear what happened next but the two men then found their way back to the arcade area where they were caught on CCTV which showed Carter picking up a pool cue and striking Jamie Jamieson on the body with it before the two started to punch him on the head.

The police were contacted and Mr Quinn was treated by paramedics for a cut to his right eyebrow.

The two were arrested and taken away for interview and charged.

Both men accepted full responsibilty for their actions in July of 2013 and were sentenced to be placed on a Community Payback Order which had a supervision period of 18 months and they were both ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work within the community.

Sheriff Livingston warned: “Both of you are very much on the cusp of custody and I take some hesitation in not imposing it here.”