A victim of mistaken identity was left with two broken eye sockets after three drunken men attacked him in a takeaway.

Darren Taylor had been out for drinks with friends on April 17, 2021, before being dropped at a takeaway in Padiham, Preston Crown Court heard.

Prosecuting, Geoffrey Lowe said after ordering his pizza, Taylor was sat waiting for his food when another man, Liam Everitt, entered the takeaway, sat next to him and started accusing him of sleeping with his wife.

Mr Lowe told the court: “Everitt said, ‘Are you Darren Taylor? You’ve been sha**ing my wife’.

“Mr Taylor said he didn’t know Everitt and hadn’t been sleeping with his wife, but Everitt then punched him in the face.”

CCTV played in court showed Everitt punching Mr Taylor multiple times, raining blows down on him while he was on the floor, blood clearly visible on his face.

Mr Lowe continued: “A number of staff pulled him behind the counter and Everitt could be heard shouting, ‘that’s what you get for sha**ing my wife’.”

The court heard Everitt, 36, then left the shop, but shortly after two other men who were friends with Everitt, entered and started attacking Mr Taylor, who was still bleeding.

Kyle Flannery, 32, was seen on CCTV trying to jump over the counter before muscling his way past some staff.

David Duckworth, also 32, was captured stamping on and kicking Mr Taylor as he lay on the floor of the takeaway close to the cookers.

Mr Taylor was left with two broken eye sockets, a broken nose, and serious cuts to both eyebrows.

In his victim personal statement, Mr Taylor, a foster carer, said his injuries and the impact of the incident had meant he had to delay welcoming some foster children into his home by several weeks, and he was left unable to work for around a month.

Everitt, of Bendwood Close, Padiham, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Duckworth, of Eton Close, Padiham, and Flannery, of Lancaster Drive, Padiham, also pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm, although the court heard that Flannery had tried to get the charge against himself dismissed, and initially denied even being behind the counter in the takeaway.

None of the men had any previous convictions and their barristers said their actions were “extremely out of character”.

Mitigating for Everitt, Martin Hackett said: “For him to behave in this way was out of character and he is extremely remorseful.”

Mitigating for Duckworth, Emma Kehoe said her client had emigrated with his family to Australia since the incident, but had returned to the UK off his own back to face the consequences of his actions.

Jimmy Vakil, for Flannery, told the court his client felt “guilty and full of shame”.

Judge Darren Preston told the defendants that in preparing for the sentence the previous night, he had fully intended to send all three of them to prison.

He said: “I don’t know why any of you got involved in this.

“You forced this violence not only on him but on the staff and customers in that takeaway.

“Between you, you left him with both his eye sockets broken as well as cuts.

“This was a prolonged attack and you, Everitt and Duckworth, played a leading role. You Everitt by starting it, and you Duckworth by using your feet.

“All of you were seriously intoxicated at the time of the attack.

“I know your families would be deeply impacted by a custodial sentence but put yourself in the shoes of the victim’s family, what would they think if you were to walk free?

“I would be failing in my duty to protect the public if any other sentence was imposed other than a custodial sentence, that’s what I wrote last night.

“I have reflected on the submissions of your counsel and the balance that must be struck by doing right by Mr Taylor and the wider society.

“And I have been persuaded, just, that in each of your cases, those few minutes in that takeaway were utterly out of character.

“None of you are responsible for the near three-year delay in this, but I have been persuaded to suspend the sentence.

“Some people may say I am wrong and that I am failing, but the wider society is better served by you contributing towards it.”

Everitt was jailed for 18 months suspended for 18 months and told to carry out 200 hours unpaid work. He must pay £3,000 in compensation to his victim.

Duckworth was jailed for 16 months suspended for 18 months and told to carry out 180 hours unpaid work. He must pay £2,000 in compensation to Mr Taylor.

Flannery was jailed for 13 months suspended for 18 months and told to carry out 140 hours unpaid work. He must pay £500 in compensation to the victim.