A GANG chased two men through Knutsford town centre and punched them to the ground, a jury was told yesterday.

Jonathan Carr, 18, of Racefield Road, Knutsford, allegedly joined the attack on a soldier at 2am on New Year's Day.

Nick Williams, prosecuting, claimed the teenager helped the gang to injure Adam Demetriou, who was left with a broken jaw.

"The prosecution say that this is a case of joint enterprise," he said. Yesterday (Tuesday) Carr appeared at Chester Crown Court charged with an assault causing actual bodily harm and inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Earlier that day James Riley, 20, of Bewick Walk, Knutsford, had changed his plea to guilty after denying the same charges a month ago.

Harm

Nathan Deeley, 18, of Warren Avenue, Knutsford, had already admitted to an assault causing actual bodily harm and inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Both guilty men will be sentenced at Chester Crown Court on May 27.

Yesterday a jury heard about Carr's alleged participation in the attack near the Ruskin Rooms in Drury Lane.

Mr Demetriou, an Army Royal Engineer, said he was staying at the Rose and Crown pub in King Street, Knutsford, on New Year's Eve.

He met friends, who were also staying in the town, and they went to Bar 161 in Malt Street for a ticket-only event.

Some of the group left to return to their hotels at about 1am.

But Mr Demetriou, who was drunk, and Darren Royle stayed in the bar until about 2am.

The soldier said he remembered little about the journey back to the Rose and Crown, apart from feeling as if he was being chased.

"I definitely remember the sensation of running away from something," he said, although he could not identify the attackers.

Darren Travers, defending, alleged Mr Demetriou could have been hit when he ran towards a wall and swung his arms to defend himself.

But Mr Demetriou said he next remembered only regaining consciousness near the Ruskin Rooms after the alleged attack.

"I know I was covered in a lot of blood," he said.

Paul Barnhill, then 33, and his wife Sarah, then 31, found the injured men and took them to their home in Drury Lane to give them first aid.

The next day Mr Demetriou was taken to hospital and treated for five days.

A specialist surgeon fixed the man's jaw, which was broken from his bottom lip to the bottom of his chin, with titanium plates.

Metal bars were also attached to his teeth to keep them in place.

Yesterday Mr Royle, who suffered cuts and bruises, told the court the gang began chasing him and Mr Demetriou in King Street.

The father-of-two alleged he and his friend fled along the road and into an alley near the Zizzi restaurant.

He told the court they jumped over a wall and into a road near the Ruskin Rooms.

Mr Royle claimed the gang, who he could not identify, then punched him to the ground before they kicked him in the head and body.

"It was as you would be kicking a football," he said.

"I was just protecting my head all the time."

Mr Travers told the court that a man wearing a tie could have provoked Carr earlier that morning by punching him in the face.

But Mr Royle, who had worn a tie that night, claimed there was no reason why the gang would have wanted to chase him.

Yesterday afternoon a statement from Mr Barnhill, which described how he heard a disturbance, was read out to the jury.

Ray Brooke, also of Drury Lane, then told the court that she heard people shouting before she spotted a man who ordered others to stop the attack.

"Definite voices started shouting 'leave him' or 'leave them'," she said.

A group of girls had been celebrating New Year's Eve at the Red Cow in Canute Square before the alleged attack.

Gemma Thornley told the court that they left the pub and met a gang of men in Minshull Street.

She said Carr had asked a man she was walking with if he wanted to help 'sort these two lads out'.

Mr Travers alleged that the young woman, who had nine alcoholic drinks that night, could not remember which man asked the question.

But Miss Thornley claimed she knew Carr asked the question because she was surprised by his uncharacteristic behaviour.

"That's why I noticed it more because I was shocked," she said.

Sarah Pownhall, who had also been in the Red Cow on New Year's Eve, then told the court she heard men saying they wanted to attack someone.

However, she was unable to identify who asked her friend to help them 'beat somebody up'.

Jonathan Carr denies charges of assault causing actual bodily harm and inflicting grievous bodily harm

The trial continues and a verdict is expected before next week.