Taking part in a group beating cost a man two years of his freedom Tuesday.

Provincial court judge Stephen Harrison sentenced Bradley Pierro to a six-month conditional sentence with three months house arrest, to be followed by 18 months of probation.

The Crown wanted the 27-year-old man jailed for six months, calling the attack in the bar a vicious assault that left a man badly injured.

Pierro was charged after a fight broke out in an Ashcroft pub in September 2008. At least three people, including Pierro, were involved in the attack on the man, said the judge.

While Pierro denied doing anything more than holding the victim’s arm, supposedly to keep him from throwing chairs, the judge said there were enough witness accounts to prove he took part in the group beating.

Some witnesses reported seeing Pierro punching and kicking the victim as he cowered on the ground.

A co-accused, the man who started the fight and smashed a beer glass into the victim’s face, pleaded guilty to assault and was fined $1,000.

Pierro pleaded not guilty and was convicted of assault causing bodily harm after a trial.