Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘Complete disgust’ at violent brawl in front of children
Youth club members witness bloody scene
Warring fathers have been ordered to “grow up” after clashing with weapons in front of children outside a packed pub. Matthew Dines, from Wincheap, and Bobby Wooton left the ground “blood splattered” after setting upon each other with bottles and a crowbar outside a Wetherspoon’s. The thugs clashed when Wooton, 29, shouted unfounded allegations from his van at Dines, 34, outside the Samuel Peto venue in Folkestone. Both men, who had a history of bad blood, would point the finger at each other during police interviews following their arrest, a court heard.
But Judge Simon James told the pair he didn’t care who started the melee, adding: “The truth of it is, you were both up for it.
“You need to understand, both of you, this is a last chance. “You both need to grow up, quite frankly, and act as role models for your children, rather than acting like children yourselves.”
After Wooton made the defamatory allegation, Dines, armed with a bottle, chased after his white transit towards Grace Hill, where youth club members were socialising. Wooton jumped out the passenger side brandishing his own bottle, and the pair then hurled their weapons at each other. Bricklayer Wooton drew for a crowbar and smashed it over Dines’ head, who then took hold of the weapon.
“Dines got hold of it and started hitting Wooton with it,” prosecutor Peter Walsh explained.
The van driver, an unidentified man, leapt out of the vehicle and Dines jumped in, the court heard.
“Dines then drove the vehicle at the driver.
“He got out and started hitting him several times with the crowbar,” Mr Walsh said, adding he then caused damage to a vehicle’s wing mirror.
The brawl unfolded early on a busy evening in August 2019. Mandy Bailey, who was supervising about eight young people nearby, told the court of her “complete disgust” that children had witnessed the violence and described the scene as “blood splattered”. Carpenter Dines, a father-oftwo, pleaded guilty to affray, causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage.
His barrister, Emin Kandola, said he admitted acting “barbarically and shamefully” after overacting to Wooton’s lurid remark.
Bricklayer Wooton, a father-ofone, denied causing affray and actual bodily harm but was convicted after a trial.
His barrister Phil Rowley said Wooton conceded his behaviour was “completely inappropriate” and had become a family man. Dines, of Wincheap in Canterbury, was handed a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, 120 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation days. Wooton, of Chart Road, Folkestone, was handed an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years, 120 hours of unpaid work, 15 rehabilitation days and a three-month curfew.