traveller fights and feuds 2020

MORE SECTIONS

• Dear Deidre

MORE FROM THE SUN

• Newsletters
• Deliver my newspaper
• Sun Vouchers
• The Sun Digital Newspaper
• Racing Members Enclosure
• Fabulous Clothing

Shocking moment feuding traveller families batter each other in organised bareknuckle mass brawl

• Published : 10:50, 21 Oct 2021
• Updated : 11:48, 21 Oct 2021
• Published : Invalid Date,

SHOCKING footage shows feuding traveller families battering each other in an organised mass brawl.

The bareknuckle fight erupted in a basketball court in Middleton, Greater Manchester, on July 27 this year.

Manchester Crown Court heard the violence exploded after a "long-running dispute" between two families.

Two men are seen trading blows as a large group gathered to watch the fight.

Others join in the as the scrap sprawls across the court in broad daylight.

Thomas Joyce, 44, is seen in a blue tank top in three-minute video, which was uploaded to YouTube.

He is seen removing the top and punching a man at one point as others begin to fight.

Towards the end of the video, a group of men kick a man who is on the ground in a horrifying assault.

Most read in The Sun

Three found dead as teen 'known to them' arrested after cops find 'firearm'

BBC ‘pulls hit Jay Blades’ show off air’ after Repair Shop presenter charged

Jay Blades charged with controlling and coercive behaviour against wife

Helen Flanagan can't keep her hands off new man as pair snog on the beach

The men swarm around the victim who is hit as he lays on the floor, although Joyce wasn’t involved in this attack.

Joyce was fined £500 after pleading guilty to using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, Manchester Evening News report s.

Prosecutor Brian Berlyne said: “It appears that it has been uploaded by various observers of a fight between two members of the external family, Joyce being one of the families.

“Police have identified two external families in a long running dispute.

Several people are involved in the violence, the defendant throws punches Prosecutor Brian Berlyne

“This took place on a basketball court on Langley, in Middleton.

“Thomas Joyce is identified as being one of the parties - you can see he is wearing a light blue vest and he takes it off during the fighting.

“Several people are involved in the violence, the defendant throws punches, though he did not take part in the footage of the man who was being kicked whilst he lay on the ground.”

No other men involved in the brawl have been arrested of prosecuted.

It’s a bunch of men running around a basketball court throwing punches at each other Judge Hilary Manley

Judge Hilary Manley said of the footage: “It’s a bunch of men running around a basketball court throwing punches at each other.”

Joyce was said to have a number of previous convictions for violence, affray, public order offences and burglary.

Daniel Travers, defending, said: “It’s an unpleasant video.

"Clearly this sort of video should not take place - though they were willing parties.

'ORGANISED VIOLENCE'

“Mr Joyce played a relatively minor role and has been out of trouble for many years.

“There have been some difficulties in the travelling community. He has been making efforts to try and calm matters down."

Mr Travers said the police had approached Joyce, who "has some influence’" to help keep the communities calm.

He added that the basketball court was in a private place, owned by the travelling community, but admitted the fight wasn't "lawful or acceptable".

Sentencing, Judge Manley said: “You took part in some organised violence between two groups of people, you threw some punches.

READ MORE SUN STORIES

'Bad mum' slammed after sharing her 2-year-old's lunch of sweets & chocolate

Mum shares dramatic transformation of her nose during pregnancy

“It was an unedifying spectacle, really. At 44-years-old, you’re really too old to behave like this, you must surely have better things to do with your time.

“You’re not setting a good example for the young men in your community.”

We pay for your stories!

Do you have a story for The Sun news desk?

Email us at [email protected] or call 02077824104. You can WhatsApp us on 07423 720 250. We pay for videos too.

Click here to upload yours click here to get.

The Sun newspaper delivered for FREE for the next six weeks.

Bare-Faced and Bare-Knuckled: Fighting Traveller Families

Don’t let the bandaged fist in the photo fool you. knuckle, ian palmer’s documentary about the bare-fisted boxing tradition of the irish travellers, might be about blood, but it’s not about gore. the blood palmer seems most interested in is the stuff that pumps through the veins of the intricately connected traveller community he visited and filmed over 12 years, a society where cousins marry, work together and, when the occasion arises, beat each other senseless..

Don’t let the bandaged fist in the photo fool you. Knuckle , Ian Palmer’s documentary about the bare-fisted boxing tradition of the Irish Travellers, might be about blood, but it’s not about gore. The blood Palmer seems most interested in is the stuff that pumps through the veins of the intricately connected Traveller community he visited and filmed over 12 years, a society where cousins marry, work together and, when the occasion arises, beat each other senseless.

“I wanted to make a film from inside their world,” Palmer told indie/WIRE when Knuckle premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. “The idea and the approach was simple. I spent as much time as I could with the families with a minimal crew and small camera.”

His approach resonated at HBO, which is adapting the documentary into a new drama series. Industry blogs hint that the HBO treatment will trend toward dark comedy, since it is being developed by writer Irvine Welsh (author of the gritty novel Trainspotting , on which the film of the same name was based), and director Jody Hill of Rough House Pictures, the project’s producer, whose politically incorrect comedy Easthouse & Down  also airs on HBO.

Knuckle will have its New York premiere on September 30 at Irish Film New York, which will feature five other recent Irish releases. This new screening series of contemporary Irish films is co-presented by New York University’s Glucksman Ireland House, and runs September 30 through October 2 at NYU’s Cantor Film Center.

Festival founder and curator Niall McKay, who is also the founder and director of the San Francisco Irish Film Festival and co-founder of the LA Irish Film Festival, said he deliberately chose films for the series that depict Ireland as it is today.

“I particularly wanted films that had a real physical effect on me,” he said, “ones that made me cry or laugh or get angry.”

“We’re pleased that Niall McKay has chosen to work with Glucksman Ireland House to present this excellent addition to the city’s arts scene,” said Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Chair of the Glucksman Ireland House NYU Advisory Board. She praised the festival for presenting “works that would not otherwise be seen by a wide audience.  It should be an exciting experience for our Irish American community.”  

Besides Knuckle , Irish Film New York will also feature the New York premieres of the Galway Film Fleadh-winning Parked with Colm Meany, a study of a friendship between two men who live in their cars, and The Runway , the story of a downed pilot in Cork rescued by a little boy, with Weeds star Demián Bichir.  Other films include the bittersweet coming-of-ager, 32A , directed by Marion Quinn, a hilarious peek at Dublin teenagers called Pyjama Girls , and Sensation , about a man who tries to lose his virginity but ends up running a brothel. Directors and stars of the films will appear at Q&A sessions after each screening.

There will also be an industry panel in conjunction with NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where filmmakers and producers will discuss the direction of Irish film at home and abroad. 

McKay says the mission of Irish Film New York is to expose American audiences to the best in Irish contemporary cinema and to give Irish filmmakers “a fair crack at the U.S. market.”  It will join with the San Francisco and Los Angeles Irish Film Festivals to bring the filmmakers of Knuckle , Parked , and The Runway on a tri-city tour in anticipation of each film’s U.S. release. Knuckle will appear in independent U.S. theatres this December, with The Runway and Parked following shortly after. Director Palmer admitted to Irish Independent Weekend that he did not approach the filming of Knuckle like an investigative journalist.

“It was more about observing the [Traveller] families and trying to let the life reveal itself. The reasons behind the fighting were difficult to get at. The feuds stretched back over generations. It was always about defending your name and family pride.”

The three rival families that he studied, the Quinn McDonaghs, the Nevins and the Joyces, are all related, often sharing the same grandparents. As one of the women remarks, “We’re all one in the end.” Even if a Nevin married a Quinn, or a Quinn has a mother who is a Joyce, the rationale for fighting rests on defending just one family’s name.

While Palmer is able to ferret out the powerful origin of one particular feud, the sources of the disputes don’t seem as important as the disputes themselves. “Would it not be possible for you guys to get together to talk about it and make up?” the director asks Michael Quinn McDonagh, on his way to a fight in England. “You’re crazy,” Michael laughs, dumfounded at Palmer’s naiveté.

The matches are called “fair fights” and are organized with unexpected formality: when a challenge is issued, it is promptly accepted, a date and location are set, and the fighters hit the gym to train weeks  before the match. Fair fights take place in secret locations with few onlookers. There are referees from neutral families and lots of rules. And everybody obeys the rules. Anyone who doesn’t is disqualified, and his family takes the loss.

Technology and money play crucial roles in this tradition-bound ritual: Families exchange videotaped challenges and fight results are reported by cell phones. Bets are negotiated for astonishing amounts of cash; winner (and family) takes all.

The fighters accept Palmer’s presence with the nonchalance of a generation bred on reality TV.  But despite his desire to let the story emerge from the people themselves, they never forget the camera is there. Dodging it, challenging it, playing with it, they turn the camera – with narrator Palmer – into another character in the film.

Palmer said it was only during editing that he realized that the narrative would work better if he allowed himself to be an obvious part of his film. “The film is more honest for accepting that Knuckle is my experience of this world,” he said, “and my relationship to the people in the film and how that affected me.”

His “shaky cam” character dances around the fair fight scenes with a perilous immediacy. At any moment, you expect a fist to fly into the lens. Because he interviews both families involved in a fight, Palmer never appears to be taking sides. Even though he follows one fighter’s story more closely than others, he is not making a fight movie. There is no  Big Match to decide it all, no good guys or bad.    James Quinn McDonagh, the soft-spoken man whose winning battles form the core of the film, says over and over again he doesn’t want to fight, but is provoked into it by the other families, claiming he’d like “to be known for something more positive.”

James doesn’t like to train either. “I’d rather be socializing,” he quips. But when a challenge comes from the Joyces or the Nevins, he comes out with fists blaring. “It’s the best way to sort things out,” he explains. Even after he swears off fighting, he is seen anxiously prepping his brother by cell phone before a fight, exclaiming as he waits for the results, “Grandfathers in Heaven, send Michael the power!” 

Why do the fights continue? Palmer sees “fair fighting as still mainly about family and individual honor and pride,” a deeply felt emotion expressed here in macho posturing: “We will fight because we are men, we’re Joyce men.”

Then there’s the fast cash from the betting. The suggestion of inconsistent employment implies that fighting is a needed source of income, and might also be a way to establish self-respect when the outside world offers too little.

But within a closed community, the flip side of self-respect can be a cult of personality. Joe Joyce, an older man who nevertheless continues to fight, boasts, “I’m still King of the Travellers!” One of James’ opponents, the dewy-faced youngster, Davy Nevins, says the fights are not about revenge.

“James thinks he’s better than us,” he explains calmly. “People think he’s a god.  I don’t want to defeat the Quinns, I just want to defeat James.”

Some Nevins relatives suggest a possible link between being a Traveller and the need to keep fighting. When an old man muses, “There’s always been wars,” the younger Spike Nevin replies, “But we’re Travellers. At least wars are about something. Something right.”

Conspicuously absent from the film are Traveller women, who are reluctant to appear on camera. Yet, the only strong voices condemning the fighting come from a sofa full of older women gathered for an after-fight party. “I think it should end,” one woman states firmly. “All this fighting over names. It’s an awful life to have. It should be finished.”

“I don’t know what they’re fighting for,” James’ mother adds.

“When my sons grow up, they aren’t doing it,” a much younger woman declares with convincing resolution. But she quickly adds a caveat, “If I can help it.” 

Learn more about Irish Film New York

Tickets now on sale for the Hudson Valley Irish Fest, experience the essence of Ireland

Remembering the Irish and Irish Americans lost during the 9/11 attacks

Haunting Irish mugshots from 1850s home in NYC Library

Connect with your Irish spirit: Learn the ancient language with this unique online course

Viking warriors and treasures are buried beneath Dublin

Oh, Lisdoonvarna... is a town unlike any other in Ireland

"Life in Donegal is truly magical"- This couple are raffling a dream home in Ireland

Five things you didn't know about the Cliffs of Moher

Irish artist’s statue of late Queen compared to Hollywood comedy

Irish superstitions to be aware of this Friday the 13th

US Senators introduce Sepsis Act to reduce deaths

Boozer chaos as traveller families clash in huge fight at wake

A pub was thrown into chaos after a huge fight between two traveller families at a wake.

The boozer bust-up saw two members of the one family being taken to hospital after suffering "significant injuries" after they had attended the wake at The Vine in Manchester's Collyhurst area in honour of two young men who were part of the traveller community.

Following the incident Dougie Joyce, 36, and his brother Tom Joyce, 27, were both handed jail sentences for violent disorder after the brawl lasted about half an hour.

It marks the latest episode in the long-running feud between the families.

Prosecutors told how trouble began at about 5pm, on Friday, October 2, 2020, with footage from the pub showing signs of conflict and verbal rows before it turned violent about 20 minutes later, with two groups of about 10 young men forming distinct groups.

At one point Joyce grabbed a bottle of beer inside the pub and smashed it, before wielding it.

As trouble spilled out onto the car park, Tom Joyce continued to be armed with the bottle and as a fight broke out, he struck a member of the Doherty family to the face with it, the court heard. He could be seen to be "covered in copious amounts of blood", as he was then assaulted by others himself.

Dougie Joyce also smashed a bottle in the build-up but did not use it and dropped it. He then armed himself with a plastic pipe and threw it at another man, prosecutor Constance Halliwell said.

Once the fight had concluded the injured men were bundled into a car and taken to the Manchester Royal Infirmary.

They refused to provide statements to police, and the two Joyces were interviewed the following year and answered no comment to questions.

Tom Joyce was sentenced to 22 months in prison, while Dougie was handed a 13-month jail term. Both will serve half of their sentences behind bars.

Dougie was already serving a 19-month sentence for causing grievous bodily harm after launching a sickening attack on a 78-year-old man in a pub in the Northern Quarter. His victim was left bloodied and bruised after being punched three times to the face and head during a row in October 2022.

He was due to be released from that sentence in about a week, but will likely have to serve another six months behind bars.

The judge noted a "pattern of violent offending" in his case when dismissing the appeal made by Dougie's lawyer for him to receive a suspended sentence. Recorder Karen Ridge said the footage from the pub depicted "the story of the horrors that unfolded" that day.

The judge added that she accepted there was an "element of provocation" and that Dougie, a married dad-of-two, had said he was trying to protect younger members of the family.

Dougie Joyce's barrister Wayne Jackson said that he admitted smashing a bottle but had an "epiphany" and dropped it, realising his actions were "incredibly stupid". He said that the footage did not show him fighting with anyone.

Mr Jackson added: "There is an extraordinary number of people involved in this incident, the only two people charged as a result of that evening, though the CCTV is in very clear technicolour, are the two defendants in the dock today."

He said that testimonials submitted on Joyce's behalf described him as "upstanding" and of "good moral standing", adding that he had been involved with helping the homeless and with food banks.

Tom Joyce's barrister Richard Bridgen said that his client had not been an 'instigator' and claimed he was 'peripheral' in the fracas. He said that Joyce had spent time in prison for a previous offence and came out a "changed man".

Both defence lawyers appealed for prison sentences to be suspended, but the judge said the case was too serious, noting that it involved "widespread and large-scale acts of violence".

Tom Joyce, of Rylstone Avenue, Chorlton, and Dougie Joyce, of Quayside Close, Salford, both admitted violent disorder.

Police appeal for calm amid increasingly bitter feud between traveller clans in Manchester and Ireland

One planned fight has been thwarted and armed police swooped on an address in middleton.

• 18:05, 30 JUL 2021
• Updated 20:29, 30 JUL 2021

To keep up with Rochdale news sign up to the MyRochdale newsletter here

We have more newsletters

Armed police swooped on a house in north Manchester amid an increasingly bitter feud between traveller families.

Video footage shared on social media showed armed cops arresting a man, 44, at a house on Martindale Crescent in Middleton on Wednesday.

The swoop came 24 hours after a fight between two groups of travellers, one based in Manchester and the other the Republic of Ireland, was due to take place on Dantzic Street just north of Manchester city centre.

But police were tipped off and a crowd of people was dispersed, according to GMP.

READ MORE: Neighbours 'hear shouting and fighting' before hit and run as man is rushed to hospital in life-threatening condition

The feud is thought to be between one traveller group based in north and east Manchester and another based in Mountbellew in Ireland.

Both groups have posted videos on YouTube goading the other side.

It has prompted a significant police operation, culminating in the armed police operation on Wednesday and an increase in patrols.

Video from that arrest was also posted on YouTube.

Assistant Chief Constable Nicky Porter, of Greater Manchester Police, has appealed for calm from both sides.

He said: "We are aware of a number of incidents linked to ongoing tensions in communities across the Greater Manchester area.

"This includes a recent incident on Dantzic Street, Manchester on Tuesday 27 July where it's believed a fight was arranged to take place. A crowd gathered, but was dispersed upon police arrival. "As a result of these ongoing tensions, an arrest of a 44-year-old man was made yesterday, in Middleton on suspicion of affray. He has since been charged. "We are continuing to monitor this situation closely and have deployed a number of additional patrols in the areas affected.

"The incidents are believed to be contained, and we want to reassure the public that we are acting upon every piece of intelligence received. If there is any information you might have that could assist in this investigation, I would urge you to get in touch. "We want to take this opportunity to appeal for calm among these communities, as well as reiterate that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated.

Get our free M.E.N. Court newsletter

Manchester's courts are some of the busiest in the country with a vast array of cases heard every week.

To keep up to date with how justice is being served across Greater Manchester subscribe to our free weekly M.E.N. Court News newsletter put together by our court reporters Andrew Bardsley and Amy Walker.

How do I sign up?

• First just click on this link to our newsletter sign-up centre .
• Once you're there, put your email address where it says at the top, then tick the MEN Court News box. There are other newsletters available if you want them as well.
• When you've made your choice, hit Save Changes button at the bottom.

"If you have any information, you can report it to us at www.gmp.police.uk using our online reporting or Live Chat function, or by calling 101." Information can also be reported anonymously by contacting Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Thomas Joyce, 44, of Middleton, has been charged with affray.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge when he appeared at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

Mr Joyce was released on bail and will appear at Manchester Crown Court on September 2.

Sign up for the MEN's free daily newsletter

• Greater Manchester Police
• Most Recent

Rival Irish traveller gangs make 'call-out' murder threat videos against each other

The feud has led to at least one killing already

• 18:43, 23 MAY 2018

Get daily headlines and breaking news alerts for FREE by signing up to our newsletter

We have more newsletters

Two opposing violent traveller gangs have made murder threat videos against their rivals.

The videos show two armed men shoot guns with one of the men using a Czech sub machine gun to threaten his opponent.

The feud has led to at least one killing already as the Stokes and McGinley families have come to blows.

The cowardly thugs, with their faces covered in the videos, rack the dirt covered guns and fire them into wood and a ditch in their posturing displays.

One of the videos can see a man with two handguns and a sub machine gun, and telling his rival that he will call to his house. He then shoots several rounds from the sub machine gun into a drainage ditch.

In the second video a man, wearing a fetching three quarter length tracksuit and and hoodie with a face cover, then rants and raves in coherently about a fight in prison.

He then fires a handgun into a plank of wood.

A source said: "Although these might appear as pathetic idiots shooting guns and talking thrash these feuds are dangerous and there has already been a horrific shooting.

"Gardai are monitoring them and there is likely to be action to search for these weapons - the Czech or Polish made sub machine guns are everywhere at the moment.

"They have been used in a number of Kinahan Organised Crime Group atrocities and are easy to use and very easy to conceal.

"There is a significant tensions here and it is a cross border issue that could see crimes being committed on both sides of the border.

The videos come just days after two men were sentenced for their part in the shooting dead of their uncle at a wedding.

Patrick McGinley, 49, Ardlougher Road, Irvinestown, Co Fermanagh, were before a court in Belfast for the manslaughter of his uncle Bernard 'Barney' McGinley (63) outside a Catholic Church in Co Fermanagh more than three years ago.

Patrick McGinley's son William McGinley, 29, of Sallyswood, Irvinestown, recieved a three and a half year jail term after he admitted wounding Barney McGinley’s son, Bernard Oliver McGinley with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.

Patrick McGinley jnr, 24, from Lisfarrell in Edgesworthtown, Co Longford, was ordered to carry out 150 hours community service.

Bernard Patrick McGinley, 18, from Ardlougher Road, Irvinestown, was given a 12 month probation order after they both pleaded guilty to affray over the same incident.

• Gangland violence
• Social media
• Czech Republic
• An Garda Siochana
• Northern Ireland
• Most Recent

Traveller families' feud spills into 'terrifying' violence in front of children on school run

The violent attack started with a Jeep being used to ram another vehicle and continued with weapons

• 14:29, 23 JAN 2021

Subscribe today to get the latest crime headlines straight to your inbox with our free email updates

We have more newsletters

Machetes, pick-axe handles and other weapons were used during a terrifying attack as a feud between rival traveller families spilled over into "utterly terrifying" violence.

One of the victim's necks was cut so deeply that his trachea was visible and the wound was just millimetres from cutting his carotid artery, while another had ammonia squirted in his face.

The horrific attack, which happened in front of terrified families on the school run and was just yards from the police training school in Ryton, began when a reinforced Jeep was used to ram a car carrying members of a rival family.

One police officer who turned up said he "could not tell who was a victim and who was an offender" and at one point feared for his safety as his car was surrounded by men with machetes.

Find out who's been before the courts in our free email alerts

You can get your Coventry and Warwickshire news straight to your email inbox - and it's FREE!

All you need to do is sign up here .

The emails come out twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, with the latest news, court stories, what's on and sport from across the region.

One of those responsible for the "meticulous pre-planned" violence fled to Canada afterwards and was eventually arrested after returning to the country but was planning to board a ferry at Dover.

John Kiely, former amateur boxing champion Gerry McDonagh and Michael Mongan were charged with attempted murder, which they denied, but pleaded guilty to an alternative offence of wounding with intent.

Kiely, 40, of Darlingscote Road, Shipston-on-Stour, 26-year-old McDonagh, of Burnhill Close, Southwark, London, and Mongan, 22, of Cricketfield Road, West Drayton, were all sentenced at Warwick Crown Court on Friday to ten-and-a-half years in prison.

Prosecutor Stephen Spence told the court that the terrifying violence near the police training centre in Ryton-on-Dunsmore was the culmination of a long-running feud within the traveller community.

On one side was the Doherty family, known as the Black Dohertys, while the opposing group, the Brent Parkers, included the defendants.

“This took things to a new level because it involved not only extreme levels of violence involving machetes and pick-axe handles, but they had no regard for the lives of their intended victims, and it occurred on a public highway," Mr Spence said.

The attack on the outskirts of Ryton in October 2018 was a meticulously planned revenge for a previous incident at a travellers’ site in Leicestershire.

Members of the Brent Parkers faction travelled to Ryton in the early hours of October 16, mainly in stolen cars with cloned number plates, while Kiely was driving a Jeep with steel reinforcement behind the bumper, turning it into a battering ram.

The Jeep was seen parked near the Coventry City FC training ground by 6.30am, waiting to spring the ambush on members of the Doherty family who lived at a travellers’ site in Oxford Road.

As four members of the Doherty family, including brothers Gerry and Charlie, set off for work in a Ford Ranger towing a flat-bed trailer, they were rammed by the Jeep with such force that the Jeep’s air bags inflated and the Ranger’s tow bar ball ended up embedded in the Jeep.

The Dohertys sped away towards Coventry, pursued by three Audis and a Ford Focus in which the attackers were travelling.

At an island they went all the way round and tried to head back to the travellers’ site, but their way was blocked by the damaged trailer and Jeep.

A large number of men, armed with machetes, pick-axe handles and other weapons piled out of the pursuing cars and the Dohertys also got out of their vehicle and armed themselves.

They were subjected to a mass attack, seen by people on their way to work and on the school run, during which the driver of one of the Audis tried to run one of them down.

One police officer who turned up said he "could not tell who was a victim and who was an offender", and at one point feared for his safety as his car was surrounded by men with machetes.

He then saw a man on his knees with another man raising a weapon above his head and striking him to the neck, so used his car as a weapon and drove at the attacker to fend him off.

After the attackers fled from the scene, Charlie Doherty was left with a wound to the back of his head and had had ammonia squirted into his face.

Even more seriously, Gerry Doherty’s throat had been cut so deeply that his trachea was visible – and a paramedic said that if the wound had been "a couple of millimetres either side or deeper, it would have been a fatal injury", said Mr Spence.

Trying to hide

McDonagh was arrested trying to hide in the water at the nearby Jubilee Fishing Pools and Mongan was found barefoot in a field where he claimed he was on a penance for his father who was dying of cancer.

Kiely’s DNA was found on the airbag in the Jeep, but by then he had left the country to go to Canada, and was not arrested until October when, following his return, he was about to board a ferry at Dover, since when he had been in custody.

Craig Rush, for McDonagh, said he had twice been an ABA national boxing champion and was said to have great potential.

“That is how he came to be recruited to form part of the group who set out to perform an act of summary justice," said Mr Rush. "It only became apparent late in the day this was to be an armed attack.

“There is nothing to say he was linked to the earlier planning of the attack. It’s significant he was one of the two left behind at the scene. He’s a classic foot soldier.”

Mr Rush conceded: “This was in front of ordinary members of the public going about their daily business. It unfolded before people probably taking their children to school. This must have been very frightening for them.”

Sarah Forshaw QC, for Kiely, said he had been persuaded to let the group meet at his home and to take some of them to "the Black Dohertys site", which he did, knowing "there was going to be serious trouble".

She said: “His vehicle was stronger and he caused the accident at the outset. He concedes that, but what it does mean is that the extreme violence towards Gerry Doherty is something that Mr Kiely was not present at.”

She pointed out that three people said the injury to Gerry Doherty had been inflicted by a fourth attacker.

Miss Forshaw added that Kiely "no longer wishes to have anything to do with the feud", and his family have moved after, she alleged, the Doherty family had been phoning prisons offering cash rewards to anyone who would attack him inside.

Louise Sweet QC, for Mongan, said: “We accept this was an extremely unpleasant incident for any member of the public who passed by, let alone the officers who had to involve themselves.”

But she argued: "This incident is not without background. The relevance of the background is that the complainant is not without moral responsibility for this incident.

“Mr Mongan had no part to play in the lead-up to these events. His was a subordinate role.”

'Mass planned fight'

Jailing the three men, Judge Andrew Lockhart QC told them: “There was meticulous pre-planning by those with whom you executed this attack.

“As you were on your way to this mass planned fight, each of you was fully engaged. Each of you is to a large extent entirely responsible for the actions of others.

“You had no regard to the lives of the intended victims, and the whole incident took place on busy pubic roads during the early-morning rush hour, and a number of police officers were also involved and risked their own lives.

“It was a truly frightening event. It almost beggars belief that it would take place on a road in Warwickshire close to the police academy. This scene was utterly terrifying.

“Gerry Doherty received a very serious cut to his neck. That he survived is a matter of huge good fortune.”

Charges had originally been brought against another man Simon McDonagh, 26, from West Drayton – but the prosecution decided to offer no evidence against him.

• Warwickshire Police
• Most Recent

Watch shock footage as 'travellers' launch into full-scale brawl in the middle of Sainsbury's

The horrifying video claims captures a fight between 'traveller beef pat corcoran and Patrick power'.

• 10:22, 14 NOV 2017
• Updated 12:40, 14 NOV 2017

Get the latest top news stories sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter

We have more newsletters

Shocking footage has emerged of the moment two men launched into a full-scale brawl in the middle of Sainsbury's .

The video , uploaded onto YouTube by a user named 'Traveller and gypsy videos gypsy', captures the brutal fight between 'traveller beef pat corcoran and Patrick power'.

One of the men ends up with significant injuries to his face as a result of the scrap while a crowd of fearful shoppers and staff can be seen trying to usher the pair outside.

It is not clear where the video was captured, however Irish accents can be heard throughout the duration of the clip.

The footage starts with the person holding the camera rushing into the supermarket where the two men are embroiled in battle.

Punches are rapidly and violently exchanged before the man behind the camera appears to encourage 'Pat' to continue.

A member of Sainsbury's staff and a security guard attempt to intervene as the fight escalates, before they are told to "stand back" by the person filming the footage.

A female worker is then seen to scream at the duo to "get out!" as horrified shoppers look on.

As the battle eventually slows to a halt, footage captures the sight of one of the fighters' faces badly bloodied.

The video ends with shoppers and staff demanding the pair - and bystanders filming the incident - leave the store.

Uploaded yesterday, the video has already had over 1,300 views.

Top news stories today

• Viral Video
• Supermarkets
• Most Recent

In this gritty novel, Kerr unveils the lower depths of modern Russia, where hard-currency whores ply their trade, children dabble in extortion, and a famous journalist has been dotted with bullets. Assigned to investigate possible corruption in the Central Investigation Board, an unnamed Moscow detective finds himself spying on a cop he admires and trying to pry a secret from the dead journalist's beautiful widow. With hoodlums great and small dying on the streets of St. Petersburg, all that remains to be discovered is a crime far worse than murder.

In 1994, the BBC turned DEAD MEAT into a three-episode TV series titled GRUSHKO. Philip Kerr wrote the scripts with Robin Mukherjee, and Tony Smith directed. A tie-in edition of DEAD MEAT, retitled GRUSHKO, was published in paperback by Arrow Books, Ltd.

Critical Praise

"In Kerr's literate dark novel, strains of romantic balalaika music blend with the sound of the sharp wind sweeping across the steppes. Readers are left with hope for more appearances of this new man from Moscow." ~ Publishers Weekly

"Poignant... This excellent novel is more than a tale of crime and punishment. Kerr deserves both bestsellerdom and prizes." ~ The Literary Review

"The most interesting thing about this book is its grim depiction of a desperate Russia in the process of being taken over by crime, graft, and corruption." ~ The New York Times

"This novel works both as a gritty cop novel in a unique setting and as a lens on a troubled and tragic country... [Philip Kerr's] research gives the book special weight." ~ Booklist

The Penguin Book of Lies The Penguin Book of Fights, Feuds and Heartfelt Hatreds

A philosophical investigation dead meat the grid esau a five-year plan, through the glass darkly: stories the second angel the shot, dark matter: the private life of sir isaac newton: a novel leverage hitler's peace prayer, research january window hand of god false nine.