TWO brothers from Wrexham who launched a brutal attack on two men in their flat using a hammer and baseball bat have been jailed for four years each.

Casey Roberts, 23, of Belvedere Drive in Wrexham and Darrell Roberts, 27, of Bryn Drive in Coedpoeth, had both denied two charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent following the incident in Wrexham.

But on the first day of the pair's retrial at Caernarfon Crown Court both brothers pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of GBH without intent, in doing so ensuring both their victims were not required to give evidence again.

The court heard the attack had left Michael Roberts, 43, with a 3cm deep hole in his head while his flatmate Simon Duckett, 37, suffered a fractured skull after they were hit repeatedly by the brothers who tricked their way into Mr Roberts' ground flat on Y Wern, Caia Park, in the evening of March 5.

Prosecutor Owen Edwards described how Mr Roberts and Mr Duckett, who had been staying on the sofa at the flat for a week, were watching television at about 10.30pm when Casey Roberts, who was known to the pair, appeared at the window and asked to be let in.

Both brothers then barged through the doorway and Casey Roberts began hitting Michael Roberts around the head with a claw hammer before elder brother Darrell followed him inside and struck Mr Duckett repeatedly with a baseball bat,

Mr Edwards described how the brothers "switched" between victims with one allegedly telling the other to "break their knee caps like they did to dad" during the assault which lasted about 10 minutes and was so violent that the baseball bat had snapped in two with the force of the blows.

Following the incident Michael Roberts was heard outside his flat screaming for an ambulance before officers arrived and found both men "sitting in the lounge with blood running down their faces and necks" and blood "smeared across the door and floor".

Michael Roberts' wound was described as "a 3cm deep hole in the back of his head with skin and flesh sticking out" which needed 20 staples when treated. He also suffered a fractured wrist and finger in the assault.

Mr Duckett was left with a 2cm laceration to his forehead as well as swelling to his head and scalp and a CT scan revealed he had a fractured skull.

Mr Edwards added that in the days leading up the incident the brothers' father, who lived closed to the flat and suffering from a number of health problems, had fallen out with Michael Roberts who had asked him not to come around any more because he was becoming "a burden".

A victim statement by Michael Roberts was read out to the court in which the 43-year-old described feeling "excruciating pain" during the attack.

He had pleaded with Casey Roberts, who he had known since he was a child, to stop hitting him with the hammer saying: "You're killing me. I'm dying."

"I was looking in his eyes and pleading for him to stop," he said.

Mr Roberts added he remembered the moment he felt the hammer "go into his head before everything went quiet".

"It was a brutal attack," he said. "I was hit so hard the baseball bat snapped in half and I'm still suffering from pain in my knee.

"I'm nervous in my own flat. I jump at every noise I hear and I am struggling to leave the house.

"I am scared already about the day they will be released and I will forever be looking over my shoulder."

Mr Edwards said Michael Roberts had given an immediate description of the brothers, but police officers had called at a number of addresses before they located and arrested Casey Roberts at his mother's house on March 7.

It took another three days to find Darrell Roberts with both men giving "no comment" answers in their police interviews.

Mr Edwards revealed that Casey Roberts had 16 previous convictions for 22 offences including burglary, battery, affray and cannabis possession while his brother had served two years in custody for possession and intent to supply a class A drug.

Henry Hills, defending Casey Roberts, admitted the offences were serious and could have been a lot worse but said his client had endured "a troubled childhood".

"His father was absent and his criminality impacted negatively on the whole family," said Mr Hills.

"He (Casey) lacked the stability of a consistent role model."

Mr Hills added Casey Roberts had not committed an offence for five years and suffered from mental health problems linked to his use of cannabis.

"He knows he needs to learn from this and use his time in prison constructively," he added.

Defending Darrell, John Parry Jones, said his client was "relatively young" and had no previous convictions for violence.

"He (Darrell) is a young man who since 2011 has tried his best to change his life and turn his back on crime," said Mr Parry Jones.

"He gained employment as a personal trainer and moved away from the area and has two children of his own - a responsibility he took seriously.

"He has thrown that hard work away and the hardest part will be removal from watching his children grow up."

Sentencing the brothers to four years imprisonment for each offence, to run concurrently, Judge Timothy Petts said: "This was a sickening, violent and premeditated attack for no reason at all during which the victims must have been utterly terrified.

"You are old enough, each of you, to know better."

Judge Petts also imposed a restraining order preventing both the brothers and their family from contacting the victims until further notice.