FRIGHT NIGHT FIGHT CCTV FOOTAGE IS REVEALED

VIDEO footage has revealed the mayhem of a Hallowe’en night street brawl in Runcorn that left one of the combatants missing a ‘large piece of skin’.

The full clip, which runs for seven minutes 30 seconds, shows how the rumble ensued at High Street taxi rank with the slamming of a pizza box over the head of one of the defendants.

What followed included grappling, punches and kicks, lasting about six minutes with intervals while attempts are made to intervene.

The three brawlers have all been sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years.

Matthew Hansen, 27, of The Knoll, Runcorn, and Aiden Smith, 25, of The Uplands, Runcorn, were dealt with by Judge Nicholas Woodward at Chester Crown Court on Monday, the third defendant Jacob Byrom, 26, last listed address Willow Close, Runcorn, discovered his punishment at an earlier hearing separate from the others due to his previously clean record.

Hansen and Smith were given alcohol programme requirements also and Byrom had been given 200 hours unpaid work.

All had three pleaded guilty to affray.

Chris Taylor, prosecuting, had played the CCTV footage to the court showing how the fight broke out at 12.30am on Sunday, November 1.

Hansen claimed someone had called him a ‘nob’, from which he ‘couldn’t walk away’ so he had ‘pushed’ Byrom.

The court heard Smith said he had joined in to defend his friend Byrom.

Bystanders including revellers in zombie and surgeon fancy dress outfits were among those looking on.

Police found a ‘large piece of skin’ belonging to Hansen at the scene following the fight, although it was not known how it came to be detached.

CCTV footage showed Hansen, who had been drinking since 11.30am and was ‘the most drunk he had ever been’, trying to stand while his legs repeatedly buckled.

He was also struck while lying on the ground.

The altercation lasted six minutes and included verbal and physical exchanges.

During the incident, Hansen’s partner pulled up and tried to intervene along with another woman.

In May, the court heard Hansen was treated at Warrington Hospital and then at Aintree where he had surgery on his face, and had ‘persistently been the aggressor even though he kept getting on the wrong end of it’.

Police found a ‘large piece’ of skin belonging to Hansen at the scene and hats belonging to Smith and Byrom.

All three had pleaded guilty to affray.

Speaking after Monday’s sentencing Crown Advocate Chris Taylor, who prosecuted the case for MerseyCheshire Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was a fight between three men who had all clearly drunk far too much.

“None of them had a clear memory of what had happened or even why this very public brawl started.

“The CCTV makes it clear that all three of them were aggressors at one point or another and none of them can claim to have acted in self defence throughout.

“This case is yet another example of how drinking too much can lead to violence and crime.

He added: “If it hadn’t been for the intervention of several passersby, this incident could’ve had much more serious consequences.”