A LATE night reveller in Newton Abbot was left with a broken nose and eye socket after being repeatedly kicked in the face by two friends.
Kai Webb and Lewis Botfield were caught on CCTV carrying out the attack after a series of confrontations with a larger group of men who had been on a night out in the town.
Victim Matthew Capel was left with serious facial injuries after being punched to the ground in an open area near the back of the Golden Lion pub.
Webb and Botfield have both admitted causing him grievous bodily harm but are on trial at Exeter Crown Court accused of the more serious offence of doing so intentionally.
The jury have been shown CCTV of an alleyway off Bank Street which shows the two men being chased before there was a further confrontation which ended with Mr Capel being left apart from his friends.
He was punched to the ground and both Webb and Botfield then kicked or stamped on his head or face. He needed hospital treatment after the attack on July 21, 2021.
Webb, 26, of Bowd, near Sidmouth, and Botfield, 25, of Drum Way, Heathfield, both deny causing grievous bodily harm with intent but both have admitted causing grievous bodily harm.
Miss Emily Cook, prosecuting, said Mr Capel was punched by Botfield and fell to the ground near the back of the Ridgways Alley and was then kicked in the head by both attackers.
Mr Capel had been out with a group of friends and had encountered Botfield and Webb near the Golden Lion. One of Mr Capel’s group took Webb’s rucksack because he had mentioned a knife and feared he was armed.
This led to a running confrontation between Mr Capel’s group and the two men at around 11.20 pm which culminated in the attack.
Miss Cook said the CCTV footage showed both men deliberately aimed kicks or stamps towards his head when he was already on the ground.
The two men deny intending to cause the injuries and say they were frightened because they thought they were about to be attacked by a larger group of older men.
Webb told the jury: ‘We did go too far and I regret it. I did not intend to hurt him.’
The trial continues.