A rowdy group of men who threw tables, chairs and glasses in a wedding brawl have been jailed. The men, aged between 21 and 55, were among 60 guests in attendance at the event which was held at The Daresbury Hotel in Runcorn, Cheshire on June 26, 2019.
The lengthy brawl broke out at around 11.15pm in the function room and continued until around midnight, progressing into other parts of the hotel, with areas destroyed by the rammy, Manchester Evening News reports. At one point, a couple of the men armed themselves with coat stands and fire extinguishers before making their way back to the main room to rejoin the chaos.
Five cops arrived at the scene at around 11:30pm, and they were forced to call back up officers armed with stun guns after glasses were thrown in their direction. When the other officers arrived, there were still several men fighting in the bar and throwing items at other guests.
Officers ordered the remaining people to leave the room and the 'bloody' men, who had been attacking each other, were taken into custody with multiple injuries over their faces and bodies. After being interviewed, they were released on conditional bail while enquiries continued until they pleaded guilty to charges of 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.”
The four defendants who appeared at Chester Crown court on Monday November 14 to be sentenced are as follows:
- 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 November 16, a further five men 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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