Men sentenced for dangling youth

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Two men who dangled a 17-year-old intruder upside down from a forklift truck to "teach him a lesson" have been given suspended prison sentences.

Michael Prescott, 41, a worker at AAA Road Rescue in Leyland, Lancashire, found James Wall on the site in April.

He and his manager Steven Marchbank, 41, tied him up and hung him from the truck by his trainers.

Both men admitted assault and were sentenced at Burnley Crown Court. No charges were brought against Mr Wall.

Marchbank, of North Road, Bretherton, was given a 28-week sentence suspended for six months while Prescott, of Sidney Street, Southport, was given a 16-week suspended sentence plus four weeks suspended for a charge of perverting the course of justice.

'Tawdry' episode

Both men were also ordered to do 50 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Pamela Badley described the episode as "tawdry".

The court heard how the two men had tied Mr Wall to the truck before calling police.

Mr Wall then managed to free himself by shaking his trainers free, and was arrested when police attended the site.

But charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm were brought against Marchbank and Prescott after investigators studied the incident on CCTV.

Mr Wall, who claimed he was on the site to take a photograph of his car was which due to be crushed, walked free.