Three men who got into a fight outside a takeaway nearly five years ago have finally learned their fate after getting held up in the crown court system. James Pole, Oliver Newcombe and George Morris were arrested in the months following the incident outside Queen's Pizza in Leicester Road, Wigston, in January 2019.
The three appeared for sentencing at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, September 29, for the fight that took place when they had been out drinking with their two victims and other friends at the Star and Garter pub just up the road from the takeaway. The fight began after Pole used a homophobic slur at one of the other men.
What happened next is not clear but Pole, now 30, repeatedly punched one man in the face while kneeling over him; Newcombe, now 29, admitted one kick to another man's head; and Morris, now 31, admitted throwing two punches during the brawl. Pole pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and the other two admitted affray.
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Recorder William Webb, sentencing, said it was unfortunate the incident happened out of sight of any CCTV cameras and that all the witnesses had been drinking. He said he meant no criticism of people "having a good night out" but that the witness statements obtained by Leicestershire Police were "not going to be consistent and accurate" due to all the alcohol.
No one required hospital treatment after the attack but one victim was photographed by officers with bruises to his face and cuts to his lip and ear. The court heard the three defendants were arrested between April and September of 2019, were charged in March of 2020 and then the case was delayed because Morris and Newcombe denied causing actual bodily harm to anyone in the brawl.
A trial set for September 2020 was delayed due to court time restrictions until June 2021 and then had to be re-fixed three more times for various reasons. The latest trial date was for earlier this week, when the Crown Prosecution Service, having no medical evidence apart from the police photos, agreed to accept guilty pleas to the lesser charge of affray for Newcombe and Morris, rather than causing actual bodily harm.
Mitigating for Pole, Karly Mee told the court: "This offence is now of a significant age and he's had the proceedings looming over him - this has caused him significant anxiety.
"He has since matured significantly. This was a drunken fisticuffs that should not have happened." She described Pole as a "devoted family man" and "extremely hard-working".
Morris's barrister, Stefan Fox, said his client was a mechanic who had recently lost his job, who had never been in trouble before that night and had never been in a pub since. Newcombe's barrister, John Fox, said his client, who had a previous conviction for possessing cannabis, was now a small business owner who employed five people.
Sentencing the trio, Recorder Webb observed that the group had been happily drinking together earlier in the night and that "everyone was drunk". He also said he had reduced the sentences because of the long delays.
Pole, of Featherstone Drive, Glen Parva, was given a 16-month sentence suspended for two years. He will also have to do 40 hours of unpaid work and spend 20 days working with the probation service. Newcombe, of Kingston Avenue, Wigston, and Morris, of Cawsand Road, Wigston, were each given a 12-month community order with 70 hours of unpaid work.
Recorder Webb told the three men: "I get the impression you've all moved on. I'm sorry it's taken so long to get here.
"I think you have already learned a lot of your lessons. Please don't end up back here."
