Pair ‘fought’ with rail and a drainpipe

12:29pm Wednesday 6th February 2008

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TWO men ripped down drain pipes and railings to arm themselves for a mock sword fight after getting into a dispute with locals.

A Longridge resident told Blackburn magistrates he looked out of his home to see a teenager wielding a large section of drainpipe he had ripped off a house.

A second man then tore down a section of metal fencing and brandished a railing.

The court heard there was an exchange with a group of men outside the Dog pub before Ashley Ayres and Daniel Arthur Pimley staged a fight with their weapons'.

Pimley, 20, of Slaidburn Road, and Ayres, 19, of Grizedale Crescent, both Ribbleton, Preston, pleaded guilty to criminal damage.

They were each given a conditional discharge for 12 months. Ayres was ordered to pay £207 compensation and Pimley £100 and they were both ordered to pay £65 costs.

When asked by police what had been going on, the defendants said the locals' had started' on them.

Liz Parker, defending, said both men were sorry about what had happened.

"A friend of theirs had been beaten up by some other lads in the village and they accept they reacted in the wrong way," said Mrs Parker.