Shameful scenes of violence broke out at a train station between a group of teenagers which caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage.
The court heard a pole, a mop and dozens of soft drinks cans were used as weapons after one of the teenagers' mums had shouted: "I'm getting the boys down here now."
Two years after the fight, six young men appeared at Cardiff Crown Court to face justice for their actions in what prosecutor Nigel Fryer called an "extremely frightening" incident for witnesses.
The "ugly and chaotic" clash unfolded 4.30pm on July 18, 2020. West Midlands teens Louis Berry , Thomas Ryan and Rhys Cartwright had been in Cwmbran to visit their friend Paul Rostron . When it was time for them to catch a train back home, Rostron went with them to the station.
Berry, Ryan and Cartwright had just missed their train when they and Rostron got involved in an argument with Garan Slade , a teenager from Cwmbran.
"Initially it appears Garan Slade was chased from the station into the car park and got into a car driven by his mother," said Mr Fryer. "It was Louis Berry who started the confrontation by throwing a glass bottle towards the vehicle.
"It smashed on the floor. Rather than drive away, Slade's mother drove back to the station shouting from the window, 'I'm getting the boys down here now.'"
At this point in the evidence there appeared to be laughter from Ryan and Berry in the dock. Mr Fryer continued: "Garan Slade got out of the vehicle, took his shirt off and picked up a mop which he began to hit people with."
Slade's mum called Garan's brother Talan , who soon arrived with three to four others on mopeds. The West Midlands group found themselves outnumbered.
"They sought refuge in the cafe and attempted to use the back door to escape," the prosecutor added. "They found it was locked. At one stage they offered [staff] money for it to be unlocked. The situation was, in short, chaotic.
"The Cwmbran group armed themselves with poles, at least one of which was thrown into the cafe. Rostron admitted throwing a pole back towards the Cwmbran group. The group inside threw 30 to 40 soft drink cans from the fridge. They were exchanged as missiles between the groups.
"The owner and staff were terrified. Eventually Garan Slade chased Berry into the car park. He was noted by witnesses to have threatened and tried to assault him."
Footage played in court showed Berry brandishing a brush and a shirtless Garan Slade shouting in the cafe doorway. Laughter and yells of "p***y" could be heard. There were then shouts of "riot van" as police arrived and arrested the six youngsters. No one had been injured.
Garan Slade told police the West Midlands group had started talking to him at the station. He said he did not understand them because of their thick accents but he did understand they were behaving "aggressively".
Mr Fryer added: "Garan Slade says he was seeking to protect his mother although how he was planning to do that by shouting as he was in the doorway, only he knows."
Berry told police the confrontation started after Garan Slade "got mouthy" on the station staircase. He claimed Slade's mum had then driven toward them while her son shouted out of the car window: "You're f****d."
Rostron said the spark for the violence was Garan Slade removing his headphones while sitting on the stairs and saying to the West Midlands group: "What the f*** did you say?" Rostron claimed he and his friends had said nothing.
Cartwright told police he had been buying a beef burger at the time. He claimed he had only been arrested because he was from Birmingham.
In Ryan's police interview, he said he had been sheltering in the cafe when he was struck by a mop thrown in the clash.
The violence caused £250 worth of damage to a fire alarm, £50 worth to a sign and ruined £40 worth to stock in the cafe. The youngsters also smashed a £178 glass door, which Rostron's mother paid to repair.
Garan Slade, 19, and Talan Slade, 20, both of Two Locks in Cwmbran, pleaded guilty to affray. Berry, 20, of Stockwell Road in Birmingham, and Rostron, 20, of Bellevue Close in Pontypool, admitted the same charge. Cartwright, 19, of Lansdowne Road in Birmingham, and Ryan, 19, of Rectory Road in Sutton Coldfield, admitted a public order offence.
Peter Donnison, representing Garan Slade, said: "Throughout this hearing it is clear from the look on his face that he is not only remorseful but he is embarrassed and fearful of the sentence this court can impose."
Talan Slade's lawyer Stephen Thomas told the court his client had responded to a call from his mum and "out of a sense of misguided loyalty he behaved in the disgraceful way he did".
Makhan Singh said his client Berry accepted being "the instigator" by throwing a bottle of Stella at Garan Slade, but added: "Thereafter he retreated to the coffee shop and did not come out until he was arrested."
Mr Singh also mitigated for Cartwright, who is about to start an apprenticeship as a railway engineer. "He has suffered financially already because this is the fourth hearing he has travelled to Wales for," said the lawyer.
William Bebb represented Rostron, who works for a door manufacturer.
He said: "The whole experience, the delay and uncertainty around it, has already served as a potent punishment for him. As he said in his interview, it was a stupid incident and it shouldn't have happened. The presentence report found him to be at low risk of reoffending."
Gareth Williams, mitigating for Ryan, said his client played a "peripheral role" in the violence, adding: "He is a follower not a leader." Following this comment, Ryan and Berry looked at each other and laughed in the dock.
Judge Jeremy Jenkins noted that some of the defendants were youths at the time of the fight and he would have had "limited" sentencing options if they had come before the court as youths.
Criticising the delay in the case, the judge said: "I've said it until I'm blue in the face. These postal requisitions hamper the court's ability to properly and justly sentence people, who attend court years after the event."
Judge Jenkins described the "disgraceful" violence as a "running battle" in which the West Midlands group were "besieged" by the Cwmbran defendants.
Passing sentence he said: "I bear very much in mind your ages at the time and the fact that none of you had been in trouble before, with the exception of Garan Slade who had a caution. Quite how you involved yourselves in this level of violence, only you know.
"This is your last chance, a wake-up call for all of you. There is no future sitting in a dock. If any of you are dumb enough to come back before me because you breach this order, you should know I have the power to resentence you. You will either go into a young offenders institution or you will go into custody."
Judge Jenkins imposed a 12-month community order to all defendants. The Slade brothers, Rostron and Berry must each complete 10 days of rehab activity and 80 hours of unpaid work as well as paying £55 in compensation and £50 in prosecution costs.
Ryan and Cartwright will not have to do any unpaid work but they were handed the same rehab requirement and financial costs as the other defendants.
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