Two men have each been locked up for 14 months for stealing lager in an incident in which a shop assistant was kicked on the ground.

Lee Hammond and Adam Greenwood were in a group that went to the Nisa store in Thackley, Bradford, to steal alcohol, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Hammond, 20, of Old Park Road, Thorpe Edge, Bradford, and Greenwood, 19, of Folkton Holme, Fagley, Bradford, were confronted by staff at the shop when they tried to make off with crates of Carlsberg.

Hammond and a shop assistant fought on the ground outside the shop and other members of the group joined in, kicking the man.

Prosecutor Sharon Amesu said the group made off with one crate of lager. The other was smashed in the struggle.

She said neither defendant was involved in the kicking.

Hammond and Greenwood admitted theft and assault on June 18 last year.

They were originally charged with robbery but their guilty pleas to the alternate offences were accepted by the Crown at an earlier hearing.

Hammond, who had previous convictions for violent offences, was on licence from a young offender institution at the time.

Greenwood was in breach of a conditional discharge for theft from a shop.

Miss Amesu said others were involved in the offence but no other charges had been brought.

The shop assistant was punched in the face by Hammond and suffered swelling to his nose and pain to his head and shoulders.

Assumpta O’Rourke, Hammond’s solicitor, said it was theft that escalated to violence.

Hammond was very remorseful and wanted to pass on his apologies to the injured shop assistant.

He had drunk a lot that day and he was egged on by others to steal the lager. Greenwood had no convictions for violence, the court was told, and was afraid of the prospect of being locked up.

Judge David Hatton QC told the men their behaviour was totally unacceptable and only a custodial sentence was appropriate.