Three men jailed for pub violence that went viral
THREE men were sent to prison yesterday for their part in four minutes of shocking violence which went viral across the island last December.
Video of various attacks and assaults in the Harbour Lights pub on South Esplanade were repeatedly played in the Royal Court.
‘The court was shocked by the level of violence captured on CCTV,’ said judge Catherine Fooks.
‘Several of you [the defendants] did not want to watch it and neither did we. The Probation Service described it as harrowing.
‘Islanders and visitors should be free to socialise without this sort of behaviour,’ she said.
Three of the defendants had argued they had acted as they did because they were scared, but Judge Fooks said others in the bar had managed to control themselves.
The fight broke out on a Friday afternoon last December, at about 4pm. There was a disagreement between some locals and people from the UK, the court heard.
Acts of violence included punching, kicking, stamping on a victim’s head, throwing a pool ball and a bottle. One person sustained a broken leg.
The three who were jailed will serve sentences of between three-and-a-half and two years. Two other men had prison terms suspended.
Full story, page 4
