Five Kosovan men who fled their war-torn country to find a better life suffered a torrent of racial and physical abuse from a group of Swindon Town thugs just months after they arrived here.

The men were involved in running battles with a group of football fans known as the County Ground Lads late on Boxing Day last year.

But magistrates absolved the Kosovans of any blame after studying security camera footage which proved they had acted in self-defence.

Today the men spoke of their relief at being found not guilty of public order offences and thanked the British justice system for clearing their name.

The men acquitted were: Enver Cokaj, 37, of County Road, Swindon; Kujtim Uruci, 28, of West Swindon and Besnik Burgaj, 30, of Clifton Street; Arben Burgaj, 25, of Leyton, London and Artur Morina, 22, of Acton in London.

At an earlier hearing, Swindon men Craig Finlayson, 25, of Meadowcroft, and Shannon Platt, 19, of Penhill, pleaded guilty to committing a public order offence following the attack.

Magistrates' chairwoman Patricia Da Silva said: "The defendants were sitting peacefully in the Savoy public house, having a quiet drink, when they were approached by a group known as 'The County Ground Lads'.

"There followed a period of racial taunting, verbal and physical abuse from that group. The defendants did not respond at all to this group but sought assistance from the management by requesting police attendance - thereby indicating they were not looking for a fight but were concerned for their safety."

Mrs Da Silva said the Kosovar men were attacked when they left the Savoy.

She said: "They were sprung upon by a group of County Ground lads and suffered a vicious, ferocious attack.

"It is accepted that the County Ground lads were looking for trouble. Taking into account all the circumstances we find that the defendants reacted reasonably when faced with this vicious and unexpected attack."

Through an interpreter the men said the verdicts reinforced their faith in British justice.

"I am very happy," said Mr Uruci. "We heard the truth and everyone can see we were not guilty, we were simply minding our business."

Mr Cokaj said: "I was enjoying a quiet drink. We were trying to forget our past troubles back home. I feel sorry this happened, however this is only a minority. English people are, in general, very nice."

Arben Burgaj, who fled Kosovo three years ago and lost family and friends there, said: "I respect British justice and I am very pleased with the verdict."

Besnik Burgaj added: "We were standing up for ourselves. We have had no problems with people before - we respect the British."