A 21-year-old man, who bit a man during a gang attack in front of a woman and her two children, escaped an immediate prison sentence.

The victim took refuge in a shop near the junction of Duckworth Lane and Girlington Road after he was chased by eight men including Mohammed Nawaz.

Prosecutor Clare Benson told Bradford Crown Court the man was kicked in the stomach and then kicked and punched while he was on the floor.

Nawaz was said to have bitten the victim on the left shoulder, breaking the skin.

Miss Benson said that what happened was witnessed by the woman shop owner and her two young daughters.

The man went to hospital the next day with sprained ribs, a split lip, sore knee and scabbing and bruising to his shoulder from the bite.

Nawaz, of Haslingden Drive, Heaton, was convicted of causing actual bodily harm and threatening behaviour. Miss Benson said he was also in breach of a 12-month suspended sentence for robbery.

In mitigation, Nawaz’s barrister, Kathryn Pitters, said he was only 21 and likely to be easily led.

Judge David Hatton QC described it as an appalling incident which could only be marked by a sentence of imprisonment, but he was prepared to suspend it.

He sentenced Nawaz to 15 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered him to carry out 240 hours of unpaid community work. The judge added a three-month curfew to the existing suspended sentence order.