Two men who each received two year jail sentences for their role in a vicious restaurant assault could be freed as early as next week – just six weeks after they were sentenced.

Mehdi Zand and Mohammed Kashefi, both members of an alleged cult, were jailed at St Albans Crown Court in September for offences of violent disorder.

The court heard how, on November 11 last year, they and another man forced their way into the Blue Fire Restaurant, in Moneyhill Parade, as a bitter personal and financial dispute exploded into violence.

In the fracas that followed, two restaurant staff were assaulted and one seriously injured by fellow ‘cult’ member Francesco Zand, who was jailed for seven years.

It is believed that both Zand, leader of the World of Yaad, and Kashefi are being considered for early release.

Sources say both will attend seperate parole hearings in the next few days, when they could be released on licence. Both would then be released to an approved home address where they could be kept under a curfew.