Christmas shoppers in the centre of Bradford were petrified when a gang of young men indulged in violence on the streets, a Court heard yesterday.

Bradford Crown Court was shown CCTV footage of the disorder in which two Bradford College students were attacked in Darley Street, three weeks before Christmas in 2008.

Prosecutor Duncan Ritchie said Bilal Ahmed and Parvez Khan were shopping in the afternoon when they were attacked by ten men, some of them disguising their faces.

Both were knocked to the floor and kicked and someone made a racist remark. The attack lasted seconds and the group ran off. The victims were taken to hospital with cuts and bruises.

Mr Ritchie said the attack had arisen from a fight that took place outside the Kirkgate Centre ten minutes earlier. A group, including Steve O’Hara, 21, and 19-year-old Ryan Starkey, were seen on CCTV walking away from the centre to Centenary Square where they met up with Gary Myers, 19, and others.

The larger group walked to Darley Street where the attack took place.

O’Hara, of Providence Crescent, Oakworth, punched one of the men and kicked him on the ground. Myers, of Wensleydale Way, Riddlesden, grabbed hold of one complainant and appeared to kick him while he was on the ground. They both pleaded guilty to affray. Starkey, of Jardine Road, Bingley, who pleaded guilty to common assault, swung a punch after the main incident.

O’Hara’s barrister, Charlotte Eastwood, said it had always been his case that he was the victim of an unprovoked assault in the earlier incident, and it was his belief that the complainants were involved, though the prosecution rejected that.

The judge, Recorder Eric Elliott QC, told the defendants: “Under normal circumstances, offending like this calls for immediate custodial sentences.”

But he said his hands were tied because O’Hara had been given a chance by magistrates in February who had dealt with him for offences of a similar nature, rather than committing him to the crown court, and imposed a community order.

He deferred sentence on O’Hara for six months and imposed community orders on the other defendants. Myers must carry out 150 hours unpaid work and Starkey 100 hours.