Thanks Nix, well said. Two of the people who took it the worst are at hospital now - 'Luke' has like 4 gashes on his head, bust nose and lip and just really bad bruising all over the place, and he's just a real nice guy, but people seem to have a grudge.
Some chav girl came up to me after and said "got a cig?" so I said "no, cos smoking kills, yeh?" and she just walked away, i'm pretty sure if that had been one of her so solid gangster mates I'd be flat on the floor.
I'm calming down now, but I really want to know the damage done, I'm going to see those friends on Monday, I really hope they're okay!
edit: oh and it was in a village as well, not the centre of a city or anything, just grrr.