THREE men have been spared immediate prison sentences for an affray with weapons in the car park at Keighley College.

The defendants, all students at the time, were armed with a rounders bat and a car jack handle in the confrontation with a group of males who turned up in a white BMW, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Before the court were Jordan Beveridge, 21, of Heather Grove, Keighley; Elliott Batley, 33, of Eelholme View Street, Beechcliffe, and Conner Gilson, 21, of Church Street, Keighley.

All three pleaded guilty to affray on December 12, 2018, and to having an offensive weapon in a public place.

The court heard that they became involved in a pre-arranged stand-off with the occupants of the BMW, who also had weapons, soon after midday.

Gilson took a rounders bat to the scene and Batley had the car jack handle. During the incident, Gilson passed the bat to Beveridge who was still carrying it when all three went into the college building when the violence had ended.

Batley hit the driver of the BMW on the head with the car jack handle after he got out of the vehicle armed with a large pole and ran at Beveridge as if to strike him. The BMW was then driven off. There were no reports of any injuries.

The defendants were hardworking men with no previous convictions, the court was told.

Gilson was 19 at the time and pleaded guilty at the earliest stage. He never used the bat on anyone and had committed no offences in the two years since, the court was told. He bitterly regretted his involvement which was totally out of character.

Rebecca Young, Beveridge’s barrister, said he worked for a stairlift company and had a long-term partner and the support of his family. He too had never used a weapon that day.

Rebecca Stevens, for Batley, said he took the car jack handle for protection after being told of an earlier assault on Beveridge. He struck the BMW driver once with it when he went to attack Beveridge with the pole.

Batley was an award-winning student who worked hard to support his family.

Judge Colin Burn said the men had moved on with their lives since the offences two years ago and were very unlikely to appear before a court again.

Batley and Beveridge were each sentenced to five months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, with 140 hours of unpaid work.

Gilson was sentenced to three months imprisonment, suspended for 15 months, with 100 hours of unpaid work. Judge Burn reduced his sentence to take account of his earlier guilty pleas.