A GANG of three men jumped out of a car before headbutting and attacking a group of teenagers with a claw hammer, a court heard.

Two of the men were yesterday jailed for the attack, while the third was given a suspended sentence at Bolton Crown Court.

The three boys were walking along Green Lane, Great Lever, at about 1.30am on October 1, 2011, when the three men, now all aged 22, drove past and shouted something at them, the court heard.

The boys shouted back and the driver of the black Vauxhall Astra, Mohammed Khan, turned the car around.

Waheed Khan, a passenger, got out the vehicle to confront one of the 16-year-old victims before headbutting him.

Mohammed Khan then got out the car before hitting two of the other boys, aged 16 and 17, around the head with a hammer.

Shafqat Khan, aged 22, joined in the fight and started kicking one of the boys in the head while shouting racial abuse as he lay unconscious on the floor.

All three of the victims were taken to hospital where two of them needed stitches in their heads.

One of the boys suffered at 3cm long cut on the right side of his head and the other needed six stitches.

Louise Couen, prosecuting, said the attack had a lasting affect on the boys, emotionally and socially.

Speaking about one of the victims, she said: “As a result he rarely feels confident enough to go to public areas alone.”

All three of the attackers pleaded guilty to causing actually bodily harm.

Shafqat Khan admitted that his offence was racially aggravated.

Mohammed Khan, of Malton Avenue, Great Lever, was jailed for 15 months, while Shafqat Khan, of Crescent Road, Kearsley, was jailed for 12 months.

Waheed Khan, also of Crescent Road, was given a five-month suspended sentence and ordered to do 125 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Timothy Stead said: “The consequences could have been much worse than they were.”