TWO brothers have been found guilty of causing ‘significant harm’ in a village community.

Following a trial at Southampton Crown Court, Kristen and Todd Cooper have been convicted of a number of offences in the Bransgore area.

Kristen Christopher Cooper, 24, of Whitelands in Bransgore, and Todd James Edward Cooper, 28, of Jubilee Court in Sway, appeared at court on Monday, August 21, to face charges of assault, criminal damage and threats to cause injury during a five-day trial.

During the trial, the court heard how both Cooper brothers, and another man, chased a member of the public into a Co-Op store, in Betsy Lane, at just before 5pm on Saturday, March 4.

The member of the public was pushed to the floor before having a catapult fire an item in his direction.

No injuries were caused but the Cooper brothers, and their accomplice, fled the scene.

A short while later on the same day, at around 7.30pm, a further incident occurred outside the same shop.

A black SUV was seen by CCTV to ram the back of a Vauxhall Astra – pushing the Astra into a parked car – before the occupants of the SUV vacated the vehicle and confronted those in the other vehicle.

Kristen and Todd Cooper were identified as being the men in the SUV, who caused damage to the Vauxhall Astra using a crowbar and a baseball bat.

A catapult – utilising a ball bearing – was fired into the vehicle. The ball bearing was later seized by police when the vehicle was recovered for evidential purposes.

The jury returned verdicts on Friday (August 25) at Southampton Crown Court and found both Kristen Cooper and Todd Cooper guilty of two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of making threats to cause injury with offensive weapons and one count of criminal damage.

They have both been remanded in custody and are set to be sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on a date to be confirmed.