US 'fight club' worker sentenced

The videos were called "one of the saddest things" jurors would ever see

A man in Texas has been sentenced to three years in prison for causing injury during orchestrated fights at a school for mentally disabled people.

Jesse Salazar, 25, was among six former employees of the Corpus Christi State School charged in connection with what police described as a "fight club".

He was convicted on Thursday by a Nueces County jury and had faced up to 10 years in jail.

Salazar apologised for what had happened, saying "it was dumb".

"I'm sorry for what took place and it shouldn't have happened," he said.

The jury found Salazar guilty of intentionally causing injury to a disabled person.

Last week, Vincent Johnson, another former school worker, pleaded guilty and was given a two-year suspended prison sentence.

The case came to light when officers found a mobile phone in March with almost 20 videos showing the residents punching and kicking each other.

The footage allegedly shows staff from Corpus Christi forcing the residents into fights, apparently for their entertainment.

Salazar's defence team had argued he was trying to prevent the fights from going ahead.