A FATHER'S party to celebrate his release from prison ended with three of his children being charged after two guests were knocked unconscious and another beaten up, Carlisle Crown Court has heard.

The trouble at Derek Bigley's home in Hall Park, Burneside, allegedly began when the family realised that one of the people at the party was the man they blamed for getting him sent to prison in the first place.

Prosecuting counsel Brendan Burke told the jury that Bigley's daughter Victoria objected when Steven McRae, known as "Mambo", arrived on the doorstep in the early hours of June 1 last year.

"Then all hell broke loose," said Mr Burke.

Four people were arrested as a result. They were: Victoria Bigley, 30, of St Leonard's Close, Peterlee, County Durham; her brothers Curtis Bigley, 23, of Blackdown Close, Peterlee; and Ryan Bigley, 25, of Hall Park, Burneside; and her boyfriend Glen Flatt, 24, of Balliol Drive Peterlee.

All four deny a charge of violent disorder.

Curtis Bigley has also denied charges of causing actual bodily harm and possessing a baseball bat as an offensive weapon.

Mr Burke told the court that once the family realised Mr McRae had come to their party, some of them attacked him, believing he had helped the police in the investigation that had seen Derek Bigley jailed.

The court heard Mr McRae was punched and kicked to the ground and beaten up as he lay there.

When another man, Shaun Mannix, went to help Mr McRae after becoming "concerned about the ferocity of the attack", Mr Burke said, the Bigleys turned their violence on him "for having the temerity to intervene."

Mr Mannix was also punched and kicked and left unconscious on the ground, so a third man, Mike Rogers, went to help him, it was alleged.

He too was beaten unconscious, the jury heard.

Then, Mr Burke said, Curtis Bigley fetched a baseball bat and struck the helpless Mr Mannix over the head with it, fracturing his skull.

In evidence Ryan Bigley rejected the prosecution's version of events.

He said that Mr Mannix was to blame for most of the trouble.

He said he had been attacked by Mr Mannix, and that his brother Curtis had only been trying to help him by pulling Mr Mannix away.

He denied that a baseball bat had been used during the incident, although a stick that had been lying on the grass had been used.

This was picked up and used by another man, who was trying to protect himself from Mr Mannix's attack, he said.

Ryan Bigley denied that his brother Curtis had caused Mr Mannix's head injury.

"I know my brother is not responsible for whacking anyone with a baseball bat," he said. He also said he had no idea how Mr Rogers had been hurt.

In evidence, Victoria Bigley said she was "very surprised and shocked" to find Mr McRae at the door.

"He was not a friend any more, because he put my dad to jail," she said.

Asked if she had assaulted Mr Mannix, or encouraged anyone else to do so, she replied: "No, I never touched anybody."

The trial continues.