THREE members of a gang of 10 Bolton men who left a football fan fighting for his life have been jailed for a total of six years.

The Wanderers fans viciously attacked Steven Povah, aged 47, and assaulted two fellow Manchester United fans at Chorley railway station on February 22 last year.

Sentencing the men at Preston Crown Court, Judge Michael Byrne called the attack "deliberate, savage and sustained".

He said: "This is a tragic example of what can happen when otherwise respectable people have been inebriated by excess amounts of alcohol and are carried away by the herd instincts of the pack mentality.

"Our communities are entitled to look at the courts to stamp this out."

Mr Povah was attacked as he waited for a train at Chorley station with his two friends. The Wanderers fans had been drinking in Chorley following a derby match between the two teams at the Reebok Stadium.

Mr Povah, from Leigh, suffered severe head injuries in the assault and spent three days fighting for his life in an intensive care unit.

He had a blood clot on his brain, his eye socket was so badly damaged it had to be reconstructed with metal plates, and he suffered a broken jaw. Eighteen months later, he still walks with a stick.

The judge sentenced Ronald Brickles, aged 31, of Weymouth Street, Halliwell, and Anthony Charnock, aged 32, of Rannoch Road, Breightmet, to two-and-a-half years jail each, and Malcolm Cooling, aged 44, of Tarbet Drive, Breightmet, to 12 months jail.

Gerrard Gallagher, aged 38, of Crompton Avenue, and David Hough, aged 38, of Crompton Avenue, both Breightmet; and John Norris, aged 41, and Timothy Hodge, aged 49, both of Bury Road, Tonge Fold, were given 90-day jail sentences to be served at weekends.

Anthony Bollard, aged 48, of Tonge Moor Road, Tonge Moor, and John Bennett, aged 38, of Regents Hill, Lostock, will each serve 81 days in prison at weekends. Paul Kirkwood, aged 43, of High Avenue, Breightmet, received 150 hours community service.

All were given football banning orders of between three and 10 years and they were all banned from the Reebok Stadium for life.

Speaking after the sentences, Mr Povah and his partner Lesley Goodwin said: "Hopefully, we can now draw closure on the past events, and begin to make the best of our lives given the circumstances which have been imposed on us."

Some of the gang were eventually trapped by the FBI after the attack was captured on CCTV film.

The tape was accidentally wiped and British Transport Police sent the tape to America where the FBI's image-enhancing software was used to recover the missing images.

Det Sgt Tom Brookshaw, of British Transport Police, said: "We will always strive to bring justice to any person who commits acts of violence on trains or railway stations.

"This incident was of an extremely violent nature and left one man fighting for his life. A dedicated team of officers have brought this case to a successful conclusion."

A Wanderers spokesman said: "The club has co-operated with the police throughout the proceedings and we will be banning all the offenders from the Reebok Stadium for life."