Youths who left a man brain damaged in an unprovoked drunken attack have been jailed for 18 months.

Craig Cruz, 21, and Carl Roberts and Ashley Cook, both 20, left their 60-year-old victim for dead following the late night attack.

And a judge at Swindon Crown Court heard the injuries could have been worse had a 12-year-old boy not seen him and dialled 999.

Ian Dixey, prosecuting, said Terence Bayliss was walking home from the Spotted Cow pub at Coate on Friday, September 16, 2006, at the same time a group of women with children who had been in the pub were also going home.

On their way they saw the defendants with a fourth man. Two girls were on bikes riding ahead in the Cranmore Avenue and Carstairs Avenue area.

The girls returned to the group saying a man had pulled a gun on them.

The adults continued and saw Mr Bayliss leaning on a railing with no gun in sight.

"It appears, as the defendants said later, that they had put two and two together and made five," Mr Dixey said.

"As far as Craig Cruz was to say to the police he thought that something sexual had taken place.

"I make it quite plain that there is no suggestion of that at all."

He said Cruz punched Mr Bayliss, causing him to slide to the ground, apparently unconscious.

As he lay on the ground he was kicked several times by Cook and Roberts and their group then walked off.

A 12-year-old saw him and called for help and Mr Bayliss was taken to hospital suffering a broken cheekbone and bleeding inside his skull.

He was in intensive care for three days and in hospital for almost three months but made an amazing recovery.

Roberts, of Rose Dale Road, Park South, Cook, of Parkstone Walk, Park South, and Cruz of Cleeve Lawns, Swindon, all admitted grievous bodily harm.

Francis Chamberlain, for Cruz, said he walked away after landing the first blow and had had nothing to do with the kicking.

Alan Roberts, for Roberts, said his client was hard working and had GCSEs and a brick-laying qualification but was currently jobless.

Mark Ruffell, for Cook, said something had happened to upset the girls before they returned hysterical.

Jailing them the judge said: "You, Cruz started the assault, you punched him.

"You punched him once but with such force that you caused him to become unconscious.

"You, Roberts and Cook having seen this initial assault took it upon yourselves to kick Mr Bayliss about the head and the body.

"If this young lad not called the emergency services who knows how much more serious it would have been."