THREE teenagers have been jailed after subjecting a man to a 'relentless and brutal' attack as he lay in a pool of blood at a tram stop.

The teenagers repeatedly kicked the victim, in his 40s, as he lay on the platform at Freehold Metrolink station, Oldham.

It was completely unprovoked and yet their attack lasted for three minutes.

Their actions were described by police as "sickening."

The three teenagers from Oldham, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were sentenced today at Minshull Street Crown Court.

A 16-year-old boy was sentenced to five years in a young offenders institute. A 15-year-old boy was sentenced to six years in a young offenders institute, and another 15-year-old boy was sentenced to five years in a young offenders institute.

They previously pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm following their attack shortly after 9.30pm on Thursday, March 8.

Their victim has thankfully now recovered from his injuries but spent days in hospital after the attack, having suffered a bleed behind an eye, a broken nose and extensive bruising.

Det Sgt Alex Brown, from Greater Manchester Police’s Oldham CID, said: "Today three violent teenagers have been held accountable for their sickening actions.

"They subjected an innocent man to a relentless, brutal and shocking attack for no reason other than because they felt like it.

"They gained enjoyment from beating a man to the point where he was unconscious and was unable to defend himself. They returned on three occasions to inflict agonising injuries and then, only as a result of the passing tram passengers and driver, they stopped and ran away.

“Thankfully we were able to identify these individuals and they admitted their role in this callous attack. They can now spend their time in prison thinking about the consequences of what they did.

“No one should ever feel scared to use public transport and I want to stress that the network across Oldham and Greater Manchester is patrolled by a dedicated TravelSafe team, and local officers will continue to work with Transform for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to tackle anti-social behaviour.”

The attack at the tram stop in Block Lane lasted three minutes. Even when the victim was unconscious, the trio continued to kick him, leaving him lying in a pool of his own blood.

During the attack, a tram stopped on the opposite side of the tracks and the tram driver climbed out of his cab to challenge the trio.

The teenagers continued to kick the man before passengers on the tram forced the doors open and ran to the victim’s aid.

Details from witnesses along with further information received from the public helped detectives to identify the teens.

Danny Vaughan, TfGM’s Head of Metrolink, said: “This was a disgusting and mindless attack and we are extremely thankful that the victim was able to recover from his injuries.

“I have no doubt that the consequences could have been far worse – possibly even fatal – had the tram driver and other passengers not confronted these thugs when they did.

“CCTV played a vital part in securing these convictions and this case should act as a strong warning and deterrent to others. We have a sprawling network of CCTV on all our trams and stops and will not hesitate to handover the footage to police and partner agencies to help bring offenders to justice on the rare occasions something serious occurs on the network.”

Aline Frantzen, Managing Director at tram operator KeolisAmey Metrolink (KAM), added: “Our thoughts are with the victim of this dreadful attack, and we echo the sentiment that we are extremely thankful the victim has made a recovery from his injuries.

“I would like to take this opportunity to praise the actions of our driver. Customers are at the heart of everything we do, and our driver’s brave attempts to intervene in this vicious attack undoubtedly prevented an even more serious outcome.”