Two brothers have been sentenced after a teenage girl was viciously attacked at a shop.
Ahtisham Rehman, 23, and Afaq Rehman, 21, were working at the Premier convenience store on Wellington Road, Stockport, when a group of 10 youths congregated outside.
A court heard the group gathered there 'habitually' and there was a 'background of trouble'.
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Two other men were inside the store - which is now under new ownership - at the time and police were called at around 7.25pm on October 29, 2018.
Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard the girl, then aged 18, suffered bruises to her legs and body, and needed a head wound glued at hospital.
Alison Heyworth, prosecuting, said the victim and a friend were 'in and out' of the store buying cigarettes on the night.
At one point, she said Afaq Rehman 'appeared to lose his temper with her'.
"There was a confrontation which led very rapidly to the victim being set upon by those men and kicked, punched and pushed inside," Ms Heyworth said.
"The violence continued outside the shop. The group of men continued to hit her."
The court heard the victim collapsed outside and the men ran back inside the shop then left in a car.
She suffered a centimetre-long cut to the head.
The court heard that after his arrest, Ahtisham Rehman told police the group were 'troublemakers, a fight had broken out and he tried to break it up'.
The brothers, of Cronshaw Street, Burnage, both pleaded guilty to affray at an earlier hearing.
Jack Troup, defending Ahtisham Rehman, said the shop had been suffering with shoplifting and anti-social behaviour, and 'problems persisted' despite the police being informed.
He described Rehman as a 'hard-working, studious young man' who has attained a law degree and was starting a masters course.
"This offence is completely out of character for him," Mr Troup said. "He is not somebody who is likely to re offend in the future."
Mark Friend, for Afaq Rehman, said he had also completely a university course and had 'committed himself to a socially-responsible life'.
"He is a bright, intelligent young man," Mr Friend said. "This is a defendant who will not darken the door of any court building again."
Judge Mr Recorder David O'Mahony said there was a 'struggle' and also a 'suggestion' that the victim was headbutted, but the court heard there were also claims one of the men inside the store was headbutted.
The judge said at a sentencing hearing it was 'unclear who did what'.
It was said a hammer and crowbar were 'produced' by 'one or more of the men involved', but only a hammer was recovered, Recorder O'Mahony added, calling the violence that followed a 'reasonably prolonged incident'.
"It is not clear which of the men involved used the weapon," the judge said.
"There were one or two others apart from the both of you involved.
"There has been some background of trouble between the two groups. Any such trouble does not excuse what happened."
Both defendants were jailed for 41 weeks, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
