by Greg Burns
gregburns@trinitysouth.co.uk
A BEACONSFIELD father and his two sons will be spending Christmas behind bars for their part in a mass pub brawl.
At the Old Bailey this week judge Giles Forrester sentenced Paul Finch, 50, of Candlemas Mead, who had served in the army for five years and worked as a driver for Royal Mail, to 10 months’ imprisonment for affray.
His son Philip, 23, of Hemel Hempstead, received the same sentence while older brother Mark, 26, of Southall, London, was jailed for 21 months for unlawful wounding.
The court heard how the men were drinking in the Rose and Crown pub, in Kings Langley, on May 20, 2006, when they began exchanging ‘banter’ with another group about some women..
It was at this point that Lee Debman, one of the other group, was viciously attacked by the three men who also had about 160 customers at the pub ducking for cover as they threw punches, beer glasses, chairs, ashtrays, and tables during the brawl.
Mr Debman was left on the floor bleeding from a four inch wound to the head while an off duty police officer called 999.
Prosecutor Andrew Lewis said: “Mr Debman heard one of the men saying to the others, ‘We will do the f***er’.”
“He turned away and he described feeling a smash over his head from behind up to four times. While he was on the floor he felt a number of punches landing on his face.
“Everyone else then became involved and started throwing what they could get their hands on.”
All three men initially denied all the charges but dramatically changed their pleas to guilty on the first day of their trial last month.
Mr Forrester said: “The landlord says he has never witnessed a fight as horrific and disturbing as what occurred on that evening. Those who participate in such gratuitous large scale violence must expect a custodial sentence.”
Post to: del.icio.us |