Steven RoseTHREE teenagers who systematically kicked an air cadet leader while he lay curled up on the ground are all facing a jail sentence for their role in the gang attack.

A 17-year-old and a 16-year-old from Bradford on Avon join a 15-year-old Trow-bridge boy in facing a custodial sentence for the brutal and unprovoked attack on 52-year-old Adrian King.

All three cannot be named for legal reasons. The two older boys are now classed as persistent young offenders based on their recent criminal records.

Magistrates at Trowbridge Youth Court warned the teenagers they would be considering custody at a sentencing hearing next month. A fourth gang member Steven Rose, 18, has already appeared in court.

Rose, of Southville Road, Bradford on Avon, was due to attend a hearing yesterday to find out if he would be jailed.

Ex-RAF corporal Mr King, who described the teenagers as evil, suffered massive bruising.

Punched in the head, battered to the floor and systematically kicked by the four teenagers, Mr King said he feared for his life.

Prosecutor Simon Brench-ley said the three youths and Rose began bullying cadets minutes after being kicked-out of the Lock Inn Caf.

The drunken foursome goaded the uniform-clad cadets before Rose butted one and the 17-year-old pushed another down. When Mr King arrived and tried to intervene he was pinned to a fence and tripped.

Mr Brechley said: "He was repeatedly kicked by all four and Mr King told police he thought he was going to die."

Cadets went to fetch help and raise the alarm.

The gang all denied their role in the attack and blamed the incident on each other.

Alex Daymond, defending the three youths, said the 17-year-old admitted common assault.

All four admitted causing actual bodily harm to Mr King outside the air cadet centre in December.

l The sentencing hearing will be held at Chippenham Youth Court on April 8