Gang of thugs beat man and threw him in canal

They then revelled in the incident boasting about it on Facebook with their friends.

Craig Martin, 24, Daniel Cameron, 22, and Jackson Wright, 20, were found guilty after trial of attacking 24-year-old Ross McMillan outside The Golden Lion pub, Todmorden, on October 17, 2010.

Bradford Crown Court heard that they had come over from their homes in Oldham for a boozy session in Todmorden.

Bouncer Peter Newbury, who gave evidence in the men’s trial, said they had spotted the group earlier in the night and thought they looked like “trouble”.

Later inside the Golden Lion pub the three men began arguing with a friend of Ross McMillan.

All parties were ejected and Mr McMillan made, what Judge Jonathan Durham Hall called an “almost fatal error” of going outside to check his friend was ok.

At this point the group, which may have been as large as six people, including Martin and Wright, both of Rochdale Road, Oldham, punched him to the floor and began to kick him.

The court heard that their victim screamed out “what have I done?” as the blows rained down.

Cameron, of Laurel Avenue, Oldham, then got involved and held down McMillan so the brutal attack could continue.

He then picked him up and taunted him before throwing him in the Rochdale Canal.

A female friend of McMillan’s tried to stop Cameron but he punched her in the face leaving her with a broken nose.

Judge Durham Hall commented on the men’s boasting on Facebook which mentioned the “canal plunge”.

He said: “Daniel Cameron, you in particular commented on it; ‘broken jaw, fractured eye socket, no teeth, pneumonia and bird with a broken nose. Ha’.”

Cameron and Martin were jailed for eight years while Wright will spend six years in a young offenders institute.