Mass brawl had city at standstill
Three men and a woman from Wearside have appeared in court after a “disgraceful” mass brawl which brought York city centre to a standstill.
Joshua Brownless, 29, Anthony Cockerill, 26, Dean Taggart, 29, and Demi Walker, 22, were in the thick of the latenightmeleeoutsideanightclub which long-serving police officerssaidwastheworstcaseof street violence they had seen.
Numerous people were involved in the “terrifying” violence as two warring groups fought in the street in front of “horrified” bystanders and people dining in restaurants around Rougier Street, York Crown Court heard.
CCTVshowedpeoplebeing punched, kicked and thrown to the ground in various skirmishes outside Pop World which continued even after police arrived, said prosecutor Jade Edwards.
She said door staff called policejustafter9pmonFebruary 2, 2019, to report a “largescale” disturbance.
Taggart and his brotherin-law Brownless were in one groupandWalkerandCockerill were in the other.
Both groups had been to Pop World where Taggart and Brownless were seen fighting with a man and a woman in the other group. Cockerill then weighed in as all three men traded punches.
Taggartgrabbedholdofone of the men and “delivered several upper-cut-type punches”. He himself ended up on the ground, being kicked by another man, and a woman also ended up on the deck.
Shethengotupandpushed anothermanwhowasfighting with Brownless, but she too was punched in the face and knocked back to the ground.
She got back up again but wasthenthrowntotheground once more by Walker, who got on top of her and started pulling her hair.
Taggart tried to separate them before he himself was knocked to the ground again, where he kicked out at Cockerill.
A street ranger arrived and saw Cockerill laid out on the ground with another man sitting on his head.
Taggart came over and kicked Cockerill in the head.
Meanwhile,Walkerwasstill on top of the woman from the other group in the middle off theroad.Oneofthemenpulled Walker off her, but she went back to the prostrate woman despite the attention of police and started punching her, “haymaker style”, to the face and body.
Thevictimwascurledupon the ground, “to protect herself from the blows”.
One officer said she was startledtoseeWalkercontinuingtothrowpunchesgiventhe presence of police and sirens blaring. Walker put up a struggleasanofficerrestrainedher.
Cockerill, Walker and Taggart were whisked off to custody. Brownless was arrested subsequentlyafterbeingidentified on CCTV.
Brownless, of Tollerton Drive, Sunderland, Taggart, of Monument View, Houghton, and Cockerill, of Foxley, Washington, admitted affray. Walker, of Welburn Road, Washington, initially denied the offence but ultimately pleaded guilty.
Judge Simon Hickey described the violence as a “disgraceful act” which had brought the city centre “to a halt”.
Brownless, Cockerill and Taggart were each given 12-month suspended prison terms with 100 hours’ unpaid work. Walker was given a 15-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, with 100 hours’ unpaid work.