Cockayne faces jail over assault
Cockayne, 25, has been remanded in custody by a judge at Leeds Crown Court after he was shown CCTV footage of the rugby player taking part in a frenzied attack on 21-year-old Kiel Thompson.
It happened as he left a bar in the West Yorkshire town of Normanton on November 10, 2007.
Judge Alistair McCallum said Cockayne "thoroughly deserved" to go to prison after watching the footage which showed the Robins star repeatedly kick Mr Thompson.
At the time, the victim was on the floor and Cockayne lifted Mr Thompson's head off the ground before continuing to kick his face.
He was then seen to leave the victim, but return shortly after to continue the attack.
Cockayne previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, along with his co-accused Steven Hayward, 20, a rugby player for Castleford Tigers Academy side.
Judge McCallum has adjourned sentencing the pair until Thursday due to the "appalling" nature of the attack.
He said: "The sentence that I pass upon them is going to affect them greatly. I am minded to take some time to think about it.
"At the moment I am thinking of a custodial sentence for both of them.
"Anyone who saw that video saw graphic, appalling, vicious behaviour. He was getting pounded. Both of them thoroughly deserve to go to prison. I shall not make any promises."
The court was shown a DVD of five men, including the two defendants, attacking the victim after he had initially struck one of their friends in self-defence, knocking him out cold.
Cockayne's barrister, Chris Dunn, said his client had experienced flashbacks to his time when he served in Iraq when he saw his friend lying on the floor.
A spokesman for Hull KR said: "The club are unable to comment until sentencing on Thursday."
Ben Cockayne
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