A group of men who threw tables, chairs and glasses during a violent brawl at a wedding party have been sentenced. The men, aged between 21 and 55, were among 60 other guests attending the event at The Daresbury Hotel in Runcorn, Cheshire on 26 June 2019.
The fighting began in the bar within the function room at around 11.15pm and continued up until midnight spilling out into different areas of the hotel. At one point several of the men armed themselves with items including coat stands and fire extinguishers.
They then made their way back to the main room to continue causing the disorder. At approximately 11.35pm five officers were led towards the Alice bar where the fighting was taking place.
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As they entered the corridor towards the function room glasses started to be thrown in their direction. Back-up had to be called, including officers armed with tasers, to help tackle the disorder.
When they arrived several of the men inside the Alice bar and part of the wedding party were still fighting with other guests, continuing to throw items and waving curtain poles at one another. Officers opened the doors to the function rooms and shouted for the people inside to come out of the room.
The fighting continued while police were there and didn’t stop until the men had been detained. The men were taken into custody covered in blood and had injuries to their face and body.
After being interviewed they were released on conditional bail while enquiries continued until they were charged and pleaded guilty to violent disorder.
Detective Constable Sophie Davies said: “The disorder caused by these men in 30 minutes led to the function room, the items that were borrowed from a company as part of the wedding party and other areas of the hotel being completely destroyed at a cost of almost £15,000.
“The level of violence involved meant the officers who first attended to the hotel were unable to access the function room to bring the other guests, who were understandably shaken by what was happening, to safety due to having items thrown directly at them.
“The full extent of what happened was captured on CCTV footage from inside the hotel enabling us to see the full scale of the violence from start to finish and showed how much these men were intent on causing harm to each other as well as to others.”
Four of the defendants appeared at Chester Crown court on Monday 14 November to be sentenced.
- Edward William Stokes, of St Giles Street, New Bradwell, Milton Keynes, 28, was sentenced to 27 months' imprisonment.
- Terry Stokes, of Princess Street, Winsford, 36, was sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment.
- Thomas Stokes, of Glazier Drive, Neath Hill, Milton Keynes, 40, was sentenced to 25 months' imprisonment.
- Edward Stokes, of Kettle Avenue, Crewe, 50, was given a 16-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months and 100 hours unpaid work.
On Wednesday 16 November, a further five were sentenced:
- John Stokes, 23, of Roseville Park, Antrim, was sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment.
- John Steven Stokes, 27, of Ruskin Road, Crewe was sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment.
- Stephen Stokes, 25 of Hume Street, Fairfield and Howley, was sentenced to 20 months' imprisonment.
- Brian Stokes, 25, of Bradfield Road, Crewe, was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.
- Edward Joseph Stokes, 21, of Kettell Avenue, Crewe, was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.
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