History of late-night violence in town
THE McDonald’s in Huddersfield town centre seems to have become a magnet for violence at night.
Yesterday’s attack is yet another to add to a grim toll of violent crime there this year.
This includes mass fights on consecutive nights in July which led exasperated police and council officials to look at what can be done to stop it keep on happening.
At 4.20am on Saturday, July 1, 20 people were involved in a fracas inside McDonald’s which resulted in a 20-year-old man being arrested on suspicion of causing violent disorder.
By sheer coincidence at exactly the same time on Sunday, July 2, 30 people were involved in a melee outside McDonald’s at 4.20am which resulted in two men being arrested on suspicion of causing an affray.
And at the end of last week a teen thug admitted in court to a brutal attack outside McDonald’s at 4.30am on Sunday, May 7.
District Judge Michael Fanning told 19-year-old Troy Augustine that he was sparing him from prison “by a squeak”, adding that members of the public were “sick to death” of the escalating levels of violence.
He stamped on a man five times under the gold arches sign at McDonald’s.
Augustine, of Balmoral Avenue in Crosland Moor, admitted affray and was given a curfew and was ordered to go to a youth attendance centre for 20 hours where he will work on addressing his offending behaviour.
In the immediate aftermath of the July incidents, Chief Insp Jon Dunkerley, of Kirklees District Operations, said: “Police in Kirklees take incidents of alcoholrelated disorder and anti-social behaviour extremely seriously and incidents such as those in Huddersfield at the weekend will not be tolerated.
“We work closely in partnership with licensees, door staff, charities and voluntary agencies to protect people who visit Kirklees for a night out and make sure that people stay safe.
“Over the next few days we will be liaising with our partners to discuss any measures which need to be changed and implemented to ensure the safety of people visiting towns in the district.”