Four under-age drinkers could be locked up after a teenage birthday party at Toffs Nightclub ended in a street brawl.

They were among 13 youths aged 16 and 17, who were drinking at the York club on Student Night when beer was substantially cheaper for holders of student union cards, prosecutor Vivienne Walsh said at York Magistrates Court.

"Most of these young men had obtained entry by the use of Student Union cards," she said. "They were allowed in because of false identification."

When one was thrown out, the others followed. But several had drunk too much.

An Australian working in Britain tried to calm one of the 13 down and several of them then set upon him. The man ended up in a ball on the ground while he was kicked and punched by several youths, said Mrs Walsh.

He was in pain "throughout the extent of his body" and suffered cuts, bruising and injuries to his jaw, nose and forehead.

At York Youth Court, the 17-year-old youth who was celebrating his birthday, two 16-year-olds from Acomb and a 16-year-old from Clifton, all admitted affray and under-age buying or drinking alcohol in Toffs Nightclub.

Stipendiary magistrate Ian Gillespie adjourned their cases for pre-sentence reports, saying: "If you had been adults, it would have been almost certain I would be depriving you of your liberty and sending you into custody at this stage.

"You are very much at risk of receiving custodial sentences notwithstanding the absence of previous convictions."

A theft charge against the 17-year-old from Clifton who ran off with a handbag belonging to the Australian's girlfriend was dropped after the Crown Prosecution Service accepted he did not intend to steal it.

His lawyer Sally Howard said he ran off with the handbag to distract the woman who was "on the back of one of the young men involved".

He was fined £60 with £55 costs after admitting under-age drinking.

A 17-year-old from Acomb, three 16-year-olds from Acomb, a 16-year-old from west York and a 16-year-old from Rawcliffe admitted under-age buying or drinking alcohol and were conditionally discharged for six months with £25 costs. They were sentenced by lay justices.

Two more 16-year-olds from Acomb and Clifton admitted under-age drinking and their cases were adjourned.

Mrs Howard, Mark Thompson and Harry Bayman, who between them represented all of the under-age drinkers who were sentenced said that none of them used fake IDs to get into the nightclub and claimed it was "well-known" that there were no age checks at Student Nights at the club.

All the youths had spent between two and seven hours in a police cell following their arrest.

Some had merely been doing what their friends did and some had not drunk much.

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