TWO men repeatedly kicked and stamped on a man in a nightclub who they wrongly believed had "tried it on" with one of their girlfriends.

Tom James Forde, 24, had received a text message from his girlfriend - who was trying to make him jealous - falsely claiming a former schoolmate had made a pass at her in Club Salvation in York, said Rachael Landin, prosecuting.

Forde went with his friend Nathan Daniel Riley, 22, to the club in George Hudson Street, where they confronted the former schoolmate on the dance floor.

Forde punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Then between them, they kicked and stamped on him six or seven times, leaving foot prints on his face and t-shirt, a black eye with a cut on his eyelid that needed stitching and other injuries. Both had been drinking.

The woman told the prosecution the text message was wrong and that she had sent it to make Forde jealous, said Ms Landin.

Forde’s barrister Daniel Travers said: “He is still with that girlfriend, something his parents and friends may struggle to understand.”

“To prison you must go,” Judge Paul Worsley told Forde and Riley as many of their friends and relatives listened from the public gallery at York Crown Court.

“Repeatedly kicking and stamping someone on the ground who is helpless will not be tolerated by these courts, by society and indeed by any of your friends and family who have come to support you in such numbers.”

Forde, of Kentmere Drive, Rawcliffe, and Riley, of Howard Drive, Rawcliffe, both admitted wounding and were jailed for 10 months. They must also pay the victim £250 compensation each.

Mr Travers said Forde had dreamt of being a police officer like his uncle who had served in the force for 30 years. Forde had suffered three close bereavements recently.

Both he and Peter Byrne for Riley said their clients were remorseful and handed in what the judge called “impressive testimonials” including from the defendants’ employers.

Both said the defendants had behaved out of character and came from respectable backgrounds.