A pair of women watched in horror as two men thumped a helpless man with "football kicks" while he lay helpless on the ground, a court has heard.
Nadim Bashir, prosecuting, told Hull Crown Court court that Daniel Doy, 30, and Cory Cooper, 29, attacked the man in Cranbourne Street, Hull, at about 3.15am on October 15, 2020.
The women who witnessed the incident called the kicking "horrific" and like the two defendants were "trying to score a goal", with one of the men screaming "you are going to die" during the course of the beating.
The victim in the attack has never been identified and never came forward to make a complaint, HullLive reports.
However, the attack was witnessed by two women who were woken by the commotion and saw it happen from their windows.
One of them told the court: "I could see one man on the floor.
"He was on the ground in a foetal position with his arms over his head. He wasn't moving or trying to get up."
One of the men, said to be Doy, is accused of kicking the victim at least four or five times to the upper body and head, the witness recalled.
"The guy was moving with the force on the floor," she said.
"He just laid down and took it and protected his head with his arms. His knees were drawn up and he had his arms over his head."
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The second man, said to be Cooper, kicked the man in the head area, the witness said.
"They were repeated kicks," she said.
"They all connected and had a physical impact on the victim.
"They were aimed to his head but they would have been deflected by his arms being over his head and face.
"One of them shouted either 'You are supposed to be his friend' or 'He is supposed to be your friend'.
"I rang the police. I relayed the events as they were happening to the police. They were just kicking and kicking.
"Ultimately, the victim managed to get to his feet and headed towards Mayfield Street or Dover Street. He went out of sight."
Another female witness claimed she was also woken up by commotion and recalled seeing the defendants "booting and booting" the victim.
She said of Doy: "He was kicking this lad to what I felt was pulp repeatedly and repeatedly non-stop.
"He was laid flat on the pavement screaming and begging him to stop.
"He was flat to the ground and wasn't able to defend himself. He was waving his hands trying to get this person to stop.
"He seemed to be kicking him everywhere from what I saw. The main area was his side and stomach.
"He was constantly booting and booting this poor lad sideways."
She described them as "football kicks as if they were trying to score a goal, I guess - powerful, very powerful".
The woman added that the victim was screaming "Please stop, please stop."
"It was at least 10 minutes, possibly longer," she said of the attack's duration.
"There was no let-up. I would have said a minimum of 20 kicks."
She said that she was convinced the victim was dead following the attack.
"I was screaming, telling the police to hurry," she recalled.
"I was fearful that the lad had already died. I was hysterical and panicking.
"I was saying: 'Please come, please come, please come.' It certainly looked like he had stopped breathing because he was silent."
Doy and Cooper were identified from CCTV images and arrested.
Doy had previous convictions for handling stolen goods and criminal damage.
He was given a 14-month suspended prison sentence in July 2015 for wounding.
He and Cooper were previously given six-month suspended custodial sentences for affray in July 2011, but Cooper later ended up being jailed for six months in October 2011 after breaching his conditions.
Cooper also had previous convictions for possessing amphetamine, criminal damage and affray.
Richard Thompson, mitigating, said Doy and Cooper had been socialising and were walking home when "trouble came to them".
Doy's reaction was fuelled by adrenaline and alcohol, he said, and was "wholly inappropriate".
Judge Sophie McKone told the pair that their reaction to the earlier trouble was "completely over the top and totally inappropriate" and they had launched a "vicious, sustained joint attack" on the man, who was by then on his own.
"Whatever had gone on before did not justify the level of violence you subjected him to," said Judge McKone.
"Both of you subjected him to kicking. You kicked him to the upper body repeatedly."
Doy and Cooper admitted affray and were each jailed for 15 months.
