Two American cruise ship passengers found themselves travelling to Westgate instead of New York ? after being jailed for attacking a fellow tourist.

Michael Donovan and Joseph Pontieri looked dismayed as Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner said visiting guests and victims should be treated the same as locals and jailed them for 90 days each in Her Majesty?s Westgate Correctional Facility.

Mr. Warner added: ?If these two guests were at a club and two local boys had jumped on them and assaulted them, it?s no difference whatsoever!?

After the court hearing, their lawyer, Llewellyn Peniston later branded the sentence ?extraordinary? and said he would appeal. Donovan, 34, and Pontieri, 29, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to Christopher Emanuel, 38, in an attack on Front Street, Hamilton, on Thursday.

Crown counsel Cindy Clarke told Magistrates? Court the victim, a US citizen, had arrived in Bermuda on the cruise ship, along with the two defendants.

The trio initially met during a night out at Splash nightclub, Hamilton, where Mr. Emanuel became embroiled in a dispute with Pontieri. After leaving the club, Pontieri and Donovan assaulted Mr. Emanuel. ?Both attacked and kicked him several times. He was unable to defend himself,? said Ms Clarke.

The victim was left with a broken jaw, a laceration to his eyebrow and cuts on his face. Ms Clarke said he had been advised to return to the States immediately for treatment.

Police boarded the while she was moored at King?s Wharf, Dockyard, Ireland Island North and arrested Pontieri, of Staten Island, New York, and Donovan, of Lexington Circle, New Jersey.

The former made no comment in a Police interview, but Donovan admitted being involved in an altercation.

Ms Clarke said the pair faced a maximum prison sentence of three years, a fine of up to $7,500, or both.

Mr. Peniston said of the assault: ?I?m told that at the end of the day, it was the end result of a misunderstanding, and occurred during an evening of merriment ? probably fuelled by alcohol ? for which both defendants are extremely contrite.

?They have instructed me to put forward their sincere apologies for this incident, which they are keen to put behind them, and are keen to return home to their families. They offer their sincere apologies to the complainant.?

Mr. Peniston added that he understood the Crown would not be opposed to a suspended sentence and fine being meted out, and suggested $1,000 would be a reasonable penalty.

He said a non-custodial sentence would save taxpayers ?a considerable sum of money?, and told Mr. Warner: ?Your Worship is a wise and learned man, full of compassion.?

Sentencing Pontieri and Donovan to three months months in prison, Mr. Warner said that only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate, warning: ?This is a serious assault against a guest visitor.

?They must be kept safe from all visitors or locals alike and treated just like the residents.?

Speaking after the case, Mr. Peniston said he had launched an appeal against the sentence.

?All of us were dismayed,? he said. ?It was an extraordinary decision.?

He said the case had solely affected tourists, adding: ?It?s not like we have besmirched the name of Bermuda.?

The appeal is set to be heard by Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves at Supreme Court on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Norwegian ? which had arrived from New York on Tuesday ? set sail back to that destination yesterday.