A WOMAN thought her husband had been killed after the couple were assaulted by a group of drunken youths on a bridge over a main road in Trowbridge.

Corri Nickle and two pals punched and kicked the couple in an unprovoked attack as they made their way home in the early hours from a 50th birthday party.

And as a result of the injuries they sustained the couple have suffered severe emotional and financial hardship, Swindon Crown Court was told.

Charles Thomas, prosecuting, said drug dealer Nickle, 18, had been out drinking with two mates earlier that night and had been thrown out of a pub. As he made his way over the bridge across County Way he came across the couple who were coming the other way as they made their way home in the early hours of Sunday, March 25.

Mr Thomas said it is not clear which of the three started the violence but one of them struck the husband.

The prosecutor added they punched and kicked the husband whilst he was on the ground and when his wife stepped in she was assaulted too. The man then threw himself on top of her to shield her from further attack, before being beaten unconscious.

“She initially thought her husband was dead. A member of the public arrived shortly after and the police and ambulance were called,” said Mr Thomas.

The court heard how two months earlier, Nickle was caught selling heroin and crack on the streets of Andover when he was still 17.

Nickle admitted to actual bodily harm and common assault and possessing drugs with intent to supply.

Judge Jason Taylor jailed him for three years and four months.

“What followed was an unprovoked group attack which involved kicking and punching in a sustained manner. The husband was kicked to the head, causing him to pass out,” said Judge Taylor.

“All told it was a terrifying and vicious attack that made the wife think that the husband was dead and photos of his face are disturbing to look at.”