THE family of a teenage ice hockey player today spoke of their disgust at the sentence given to a rival who attacked him during a game.

Robert Brownbill, 19, was found guilty of common assault after it was revealed that he continued to hit Richard Hulme in the head after he fell to the ice at Blackburn Ice Arena.

But he was cleared by a jury of hitting his victim in the face with his stick during a derby match in October 2002.

Brownbill, a joiner from Swinton, was fined £250 and ordered to pay £250 costs.

The conviction, following a four-day trial at Preston Crown Court, is the first of its kind in the UK and has prompted the English Ice Hockey Association to investigate its implications for the game.

Today Richard's sister Hayley, 21, said: "I'm disgusted with all this. There are fights in ice hockey but nothing like this, there is usually just a bit of a scuffle.

"My brother now has years and years of discomfort ahead of him. His teeth will fall out in the next couple of years and then he'll have to have implants."

His mother Angela said the family was disappointed Brownbill was found not guilty of actual bodily harm.

She said: "That was the reason Richard, the police and the crown took him to court so we are disappointed. But we are quite pleased he was found guilty of the second charge.

"This has been traumatic and we wouldn't have done all this if it had been a normal game."

Tony Oliver, vice chairman of the English Ice Hockey Association, said the organisation would continue to investigate the incident and its implications for the game. He said: "It will be down to the disciplinary section, which I am not involved with, but as an organisation we will continue to investigate now the police side has been resolved."

In passing sentence, Judge Christopher Cornwall, said: "I hope this case will make it abundantly clear that it is not only against the rules of ice hockey to strike a player when he is down, but more importantly it is against the law.

"The consequences are that you have now been convicted of a criminal offence."

The court heard that Brownbill, who was 18 at the time of the offence, had been playing his first match for Altrincham Tigers Under 19s against Blackburn Hawks Under 19s.

Martin Hackett, prosecuting, said Brownbill hit Hulme, a Blackburn player, in the face with his hockey stick after fighting broke out between two other opposing players minutes from the end of the match.

He said that Hulme had fallen to the ice and Brownbill then struck him on the head.

He said Hulme, now 19, of Blackpool, had both his front teeth knocked out. They were later replaced by a dental nurse in the crowd.

Brownbill said he had acted in "self defence". He denied hitting Hulme with his stick and said he had struck him once with his gloved fist on the metal face grill of his helmet because he believed that Hulme was going to hit him.

He said he then struck him on the head when Hulme fell down on the ice because he feared that he was going to get back up and hit him.

Brownbill was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault. He pleaded not guilty to both charges.