Three men from Buckinghamshire have been jailed after a violent multi-weapon attack at a children's boxing tournament.
CCTV footage from the incident, which happened at a sports centre in Warwickshire in February 2020, shows a group of people attacking each other with knives, axes and spades.
Following a four-year investigation and a prosecution involving three police forces, 23 of those involved were jailed for a total of 48 years on Thursday, July 18.
Among them are William McDonagh, 36, Charles Ward, 47, and Patrick Corcoran, 35, all of Pendles Paddock in Stokenchurch.
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McDonagh was jailed for 42 months after pleading guilty to violent disorder, assault and possession of a knife, while Corcoran was sentenced to 27 months after admitting to violent disorder and possession of an offence weapon.
Ward, who has been jailed for 25 months after also pleading guilty to violent disorder and knife possession, had already served five months on remand.
The incident on February 15, 2020, followed the arrival of a group of 60 men, mainly travellers, in a convoy of 13 cars and 4x4s at the sports centre in Ryton.
They targeted a small group of men inside, initiating a mass violent disorder that lasted 20 minutes. Many of the 300 people inside, including families and young competitors, were seen desperately running for cover.
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Video footage shows men hurling chairs at those around them before running back to their vehicles to retrieve weapons. Members of the smaller group were cornered in the bar area of the complex, where the large group attacked them with pickaxe handles, axes, knives and spades.
One victim was forced to the ground where he was kicked, punched and slashed in the face with a blade.
The men then fled the building and drove away in their cars, leaving thousands of pounds of damage behind them and the boxing tournament cancelled.
Officers from Warwickshire Police, Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley Police joined forces to identify the troublemakers, with CCTV and mobile phone footage leading to the identification of over 30 suspects, largely from the London and Buckinghamshire area.
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Detective Constable Middleton, of Warwickshire Police, said: “This was a brazen, outrageous incident that saw people injured and would have caused huge distress to hundreds of members of the public who has simply attended a venue to enjoy a sporting event.
“Why any member of this group thought they would get away with turning a public venue into a warzone is beyond me and the rest of the team who took part in this investigation.
“All those involved in this ridiculous, dangerous behaviour now have plenty of time – whether it be through doing unpaid work or sitting in a prison cell – to reflect on their actions.”
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