Teenagers plead guilty to kicking 74-year-old man into the River Mersey

Last month we reported on a disgraceful incident in which an elderly man was kicked into the River Mersey by several laughing teenagers

Now two of the youths responsible have plead guilty to assault by beating, ITV News reports.

The incident happened at the back of the Riverside Retail Park in Warrington, on Sunday April 25th, with the 74-year-old victim Gordon Bradbury saying he had ‘just wanted to go fishing on a sunny day’.

Shocking footage of the incident was revealed at the time , showing one youth kicking the pensioner in the back.

In the clip one teen is seen approaching the elderly victim from behind before fly-kicking the OAP in the back while his friend filmed the attack.

He was rescued by two teenage girls, Chloe Woods and Ellie Hughes, who were walking past the river when they heard someone shout for help.

Describing the incident, Chloe told ITV News: “We were walking past and we heard these people going, ‘help, there’s a man there’, so me and Ellie quickly saw him and just dropped our stuff and went and quickly helped him and pulled him out of the river.

“He was in a bad state. He was hanging on to a branch, he had hold of my hand and he was saying ‘can you help me?’

“I asked him if he wanted any help but he said no for an ambulance so we just helped him out and cleaned him up and all the blood off his face.”

According to the girls the man told them he had ‘just wanted to go fishing on a sunny day’, before thanking the girls for their help and walking home to his family.

Benjamin Bridgeman, 18, will be sentenced at Warrington Magistrates Court, while a 15-year-old, who can’t be named due to his age, has been bailed to be sentenced at a  youth court in June.