THREE men from Pontllanfraith assaulted a 64-year-old man after throwing snowballs at his house, a court heard.

Lewis Hynam, 18, Laurie Price, 25, and Daniel Russell, 18, were found guilty of the attack on Wayne Fox on January 21 this year.

All denied the charge of assault by beating but were found guilty at Gwent Magistrates’ Court sitting in Newport.

Mr Fox was left with bruising and abrasions to the left side of his face after the attack.

Hynam, of Heath Road, Price, of Highmead, and Russell, of Nant y Rhos, had been out in the evening throwing snowballs at peoples’ houses. After a snowball hit Mr Fox’s living room window, he came out to remonstrate with the men.

Angry words were exchanged and the defendants began scuffling with Mr Fox, who slipped on the snow.

Rhys Davies, prosecuting, asked Lewis Hynam: “If he’d just slipped on the snow, why didn’t you try to help him up? Surely if you saw a 64-year-old man on the floor being punched and kicked, you’d remember it?”

Hyman claimed he had been a witness only and that any injuries to Mr Fox had been caused in self defence.

Daniel Russell claimed their snowball throwing was “just to have a laugh, we never intended to hurt anyone”.

He added: “[Mr Fox] just grabbed me, ripped my headphones out of my ears. He pulled me down with him. I tried to get him off me but he wouldn’t let go of my jumper. I was hitting his hands trying to get him off me.”

In his closing speech, Mr Davies said: “All three defendants at some stage either kicked or punched Mr Fox either when he was standing or when he was on the ground. It’s a joint enterprise effectively that we are dealing with.”

Chairman of the bench Revd David Boutflower adjourned the sentencing until January 14 for a pre-sentence report to be obtained.