Hardman jailed over pub fight which saw man stabbed in leg
24-year-old admitted taking part in brawl between rival families on night of boxing match
AMANCHESTER hardman has been jailed after taking part in a violent pub brawl between two rival families as customers waited to watch the Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao boxing match.
The fight at The Vulcan Inn, Gorton, left a number of people with injuries, including one with stab wounds to his leg.
Police said one family had gone to the pub with weapons to seek out the rival family.
Johnny Joyce, cousin of TV reality star Paddy Doherty, was arrested after the brawl, which happened on May 3 at 2.15am.
Joyce, 24, of Openshaw, Manchester, has now been sentenced to 10 months in prison for affray at Bolton Crown Court.
A number of people forced their way into the busy pub as drinkers waited for the Mayweather match, billed as ‘The Fight of the Century’.
Once inside the pub, the group started attacking people with machetes and pool cues. During the melee, a 31-year-old man was stabbed in the leg.
Joyce was also sentenced to a further 36 weeks for an assault occasioning actual bodily harm, which occurred in Bolton on June 27 last year, and will serve both sentences consecutively.
Det Con Chris Chadderton said: “The events that unfolded in The Vulcan pub that night understandably caused serious concern throughout the local community and left the people who were in the pub that night absolutely terrified.
“This kind of mindless and violent behaviour will not be tolerated by GMP and I hope the swift arrest and conviction of Joyce will send a message to everyone that we take incidents like extremely seriously.”
Joyce was also jailed for 15 months in 2012 for taking part in a mass brawl in Spinningfields, Manches-
this ter, between feuding clans. The fight followed a court case at nearby Manchester magistrates court, where he had appeared charged with attacking Paddy Doherty in a car park in Ancoats.
Following the pub incident, The Vulcan Inn has had its licence suspended.