THE ringleader of a "cowardly" eight-on-one attack on a father in front of his five-year-old son has been jailed for five years.

Hassan Malik, 33, led a concerted attack on a BMW belonging to Nassar Khan, who had his terrified son Essy, in the back, Burnley Crown Court was told.

Masked men wearing balaclavas and armed with baseball bats, an axe and hammer stormed his vehicle after it had been 'boxed in' by a Ford Mondeo and Honda cars at the junction of Queen's Park Road and Randolph Street in Blackburn.

Six months on, Mr Khan says he can still hear the screams of his young son, who was hit by flying glass as the violence erupted, the court heard.

Jon Close, prosecuting, said the motivation for the attack appeared to be a confrontation between Mr Khan and Malik at a wedding days earlier.

He told the court a WhatsApp chat group had been set up as part of a "revenge" plot, with two cars travelling in convoy from Belthorn to Blackburn on the day in question.

Mr Close said eight men were in the two cars and they quickly surrounded Mr Khan's BMW, raining blows with baseball bats and a hammer onto the car before he got out.

The court heard Mr Khan could be heard saying: "My son, my son is in the car."

Camera phone footage, played in court, showed him being attacked by three men, including Malik, with bats.

Malik, of Pringle Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to wounding Mr Khan, affray and possession of an offensive weapon.

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Jailing him, Judge Andrew Jeffries QC said: "This was a cowardly and outrageous attack."

Mr Close said police pursued the Honda to Nelson, where the car was dumped in the Cuba Street area of Nelson. A second man, Itsham Iqbal, 20, sitting in the front passenger seat, was detained.

Iqbal, of Whitendale Crescent, Blackburn, admitted to affray and was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence.

Judge Jeffries said as he had no previous convictions, he was prepared to give him a second chance.

The judge also imposed indefinite restraining orders, banning the pair from future contact with Mr Khan.