TWO men have been warned they could face jail for their part in a mass brawl in Weymouth.

A jury at Dorchester Crown Court yesterday took just two hours to find 21-year-old Ronald Brenton and 23-year-old Luke Cox guilty of violent disorder.

The charges go back to a ‘melee’ which took place on Gloucester Mews near the junction with King Street on June 25 last year.

Judge Roger Jarvis said: “You have been convicted of what is a serious offence of violence. “The court is very anxious when it has to deal with young men in drink behaving in the way you behaved.

“You are at real risk of losing your liberty.”

In a two-day trial, the jury heard that Brenton, of Pepys Avenue, Thornhill, Southampton, and Cox, of West Way, Bournemouth, had been part of separate groups who had travelled to Weymouth. Prosecutor Megan Topliss said: “These two groups end up coming across each other.”

CCTV footage shows members of both groups fighting and throwing traffic cones and street signs. Both defendants told the court that they had entered the brawl after seeing friends set upon by others.

Cox also admitted picking up a traffic cone but said he had not thrown it.

He said: “It was a pretty scary moment to be honest. You can clearly see on the CCTV that I put the cone down.”

Sentencing was adjourned until October 19.