Five young men have been given suspended custodial sentences after a serious group assault in Dartmouth.

The five were aged between 16 and 18 when the attack happened on July 14, 2024.

All five pleaded guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to a vulnerable man and were sentenced at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court.

The court found the offending so serious that “only a custodial sentence can be justified”, but the sentences were suspended under the provisions applied to young adult offenders.

Dylan Stephen Eeltink, now 19, of Dartmouth, was sentenced to 10 months’ detention in a young offender institution, suspended for 18 months.

Leo Willey, 20, also of Dartmouth, received a 12-month custodial sentence suspended for 18 months.

The court described Willey as the lead aggressor, while sentencing factors for the attack included it being unprovoked, aggravated by alcohol, and involving blows to the head.

Alcohol was also a factor in the offending.

Eeltink’s sentencing similarly referred to the attack being carried out while the offender was under the influence of alcohol and to the use of a shod foot as a weapon.

Both men were sentenced on September 16 and ordered to pay £500 each in compensation.

Eeltink must complete 60 hours of unpaid work, while Willey must abstain from alcohol for 60 days and undertake rehabilitation activity.

The other three defendants were sentenced on September 23, also at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court.

Rhys Pritchard Altintas, 20, of Torquay, and Owen Phillips, 19, of Norton, each received eight months’ detention suspended for 12 months.

Oscar Savage, 18, of Frogmore, the youngest of the group, received six months’ detention suspended for 12 months.

The court heard that the assault was recorded and shared on social media, with Altintas, Phillips and Savage each having a role in recording the attack and shouting to encourage it.

Altintas and Phillips were ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £250 compensation, while Savage must complete 80 hours and pay £200.

All five received credit for guilty pleas.