THREE men who carried out a ‘sustained group attack’ on a petrol station forecourt have avoided prison.

Mohammed Adeeb Mirza, 26, Hmaad Bashir, 22, and Mohammed Saffeullah Mirza, 19, targeted their victims as the result of a longstanding family feud, Burnley Crown Court was told.

The trio boxed in victims Naheed Zain, the aunt of Bashir, and her husband Zain Al Ubedin, with their car before launching the violence, the court heard.

Judge Andrew Jeffries QC sentenced both Adeeb Mirza, of Willows Lane, and Bashir, of Higher Antley Street, both Accrington, to a 13-month suspended prison sentence, after they pleaded guilty to affray, with 30 days of rehabilitation activities. Both were ordered to pay Mr Zain £322 in compensation.

Sentencing Saffeullah Mirza, also of Willows Lane, who also pleaded guilty to affray, Judge Jefferies said he believed the 19-year-old had only been present on the day of the incident because of the other two defendants and would not have acted in the way he did had he been there alone.

He said: “You are educated and have a bright career ahead of you and because of what was said about your good character I will impose on you an 18-month community order and order you to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work.”

Saffeullah Mirza was also made subject to a curfew and ordered to pay £322 compensation.

Suzanne Hargreaves, prosecuting, said there had been a longstanding family feud between the defendants and the victims, which had been exacerbated after Mr Al Ubedin had provoked the defendants on social media.

This feud, which had led the victims to flee their homes, came to a head on the forecourt of the Texaco garage, off Scotland Road, Nelson, on New Years’ Day 2018.

The court heard the three defendants stopped at the garage and spotted the couple.

CCTV footage showed the defendants parking a car in a way so as to cut off the vehicle being driven by the victims.

They could then be seen jumping from the car before carrying out what Judge Jefferies described as a ‘sustained group attack on Mr Al Ubedin.’

Roger Brown and Anam Khan, for Adeeb Mirza and Bashir respectively, said their clients were "still very young" and any previous convictions were committed as juveniles.

Shufqat Khan, for Saffeullah Mirza, said: "He has lived an exemplary lifestyle and has high aspirations and is currently studying for a degree."