TWO men have been cleared of attacking a 58-year-old man and his friend who had asked for music to be turned down.

Joshua Wheatley, of St Luke's Avenue in Penarth and Keiran Parker, of Dudley Place in Barry, were found not guilty by a jury with a majority verdict in just over an hour today at Newport Crown Court.

The pair were on trial accused of being part of a group which beat up Ian Harvey, 58, and Richard Webb, 55, in Kathleen Street in Barry just after midnight on July 9, 2016 after Mr Webb had asked them to turn music down.

Mr Harvey was left unconscious with a fractured eye socket after being punched and kicked.

Four other people have pleaded guilty to charges related to this incident and will be sentenced next month.

The four day trial heard that this was a case of "mistaken identity" relating to Mr Wheatley, 20, and Mr Parker, 18.

John Lewis, representing Mr Parker, said that there was no formal identification parade held in relation to the case.

He also said that Mr Harvey had identified a group who were always in the street and was generally formed from the same group of people adding "there is a risk with previous incidents that one transposes these experiences to the experience of July 9, 2016."

He pointed out that it was a dark street and that Mr Harvey had his hands up and arms out with people piling out of the house during the incident.

Mr Parker had previously told the court that he was not in Kathleen Street at the tie of the assault.

David Pinnell, representing Joshua Wheatley, also questioned the reliability of the evidence against his client saying it was "flaky" and "sketchy."

"This is a case of mistaken identification. Mr Harvey just got it wrong," he said.

He also highlighted how Mr Wheatley's girlfriend had said they had been to a McDonald's restaurant together and spent the rest of the time together until at least 12pm the next day at Mr Wheatley's mum's address in Barry.

Mr Pinnell also referred to evidence from Mr Wheatley's mother, Ann-Marie Wheatley, who confirmed he had been at her home that evening.