Published: Thursday, 2nd July, 2009 2:00pm

Brutal attack teens tagged

DOCK: Greenock Sheriff Court.

THREE teenagers who carried out a brutal street attack in Greenock town centre will be kept locked up in their homes for 12 hours a day.

Sheriff John Rafferty yesterday ordered Owen McNeila, 17, Simon Keogh, 18, and Steven McAfee, 18, to be tagged and kept indoors between 7pm and 7am until November.

He delivered the sentence after watching CCTV footage of their late-night assault on a man in West Stewart Street.

The five-minute video clip showed McNeila pushing his head into the victim"s face before the three begin to

jostle and push him. The three teenagers are then seen raining punches and kicks on the man"s head and body before chasing him along the street.

The man is then seen to be tripped, falling to the ground, before more blows are

delivered to his head and body.

McNeila, Keogh and McAfee pleaded guilty to assault through defence solicitors Eddie Sweeney, Aidan Gallagher and Gilly Melrose when they appeared in the dock at Greenock Sheriff Court yesterday.

Sentencing the three, Sheriff Rafferty said: 'It is clear that you could all be sent to prison today.

'However, in light of what I am told by the reports, I

am prepared to impose a restriction of liberty order, meaning you will be tagged for the next 18 weeks.'

Sheriff Rafferty also told McAfee to cancel trips he had planned for Dubai and Amsterdam, adding: 'Your liberty is now restricted, so you won"t be going on any holidays.'

McNeila, of Falcon Lane; Keogh, of Dorset Road, both Greenock; and McAfee, of Mount Stewart Drive, Wemyss Bay, originally had sentence deferred for the preparation of reports.

McAfee was also sentenced to 140 hours community service for another assault, where he knocked a man unconscious in Tobago Street on 3 January this year.