The sons of Lambeth’s former deputy mayor have pleaded guilty to an attack on a man, which left him hospitalised.

Scott Richards, 31, and Rion Peters, 20, the sons of Councillor Judith Best, originally denied causing grievous bodily harm to Neil Potter, 41.

The incident in Madeira Road on July 29 left Mr Potter with several broken ribs and he required 27 stitches.

But on Tuesday, January 10, at the Inner London Crown Court, the brothers pleaded guilty to the attack and were taken back into custody to await sentencing in four weeks’ time.

Coun Best, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Streatham Wells ward, was visibly shocked when the change in plea was announced.

In August, police arrested her in connection with the incident, but she was released on bail and has never been charged with any offence. She claimed she was seriously injured during the same evening and plans to press charges against her attackers.

In November, she stepped down from her position as deputy mayor, saying she was “extremely frustrated” the case against her had not reached a conclusion. She said: “I remain convinced the police will conclude I am innocent of all the accusations against me.”

Last month, a prankster claiming to be Coun Best was revealed to be posting provocative comments on Facebook about the killing of a Mitcham teenager during the Boxing Day sales.

A message which read, “Live by the blade, die by the blade”, was posted on a tribute page for 18-year-old Seydou Diarrassouba, who was stabbed to death in Oxford Street as shoppers flocked to bag a bargain.

Other Facebook users reacted angrily to the statement, but when the Streatham Guardian contacted Coun Best for a comment, she said she had no knowledge of what had been said and was unaware of the fake account.

The fake account has since been disabled and all posts removed.

Coun Best said she had reported the Facebook incident to police.