Subscribe to trusted local news
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
22
Dec
Three men jailed for "shocking" Ripon pub violence likened to a scene from the Wild West
Three men have been jailed for a “shocking” outbreak of violence at a Ripon pub which left two brothers needing hospital treatment for head injuries after one of the victims was glassed and the other was knocked unconscious.
The horrific, drink-fuelled violence, which erupted at The White Horse in North Street, was likened by a judge to “a scene out of the Wild West”.
Brandon Hyde, 23, Joshua McKittrick, 24, and Ethan Anderson, 25, appeared at York Crown Court for sentence today (December 22) after being remanded in custody at the end of October.
They each admitted violent disorder and McKittrick admitted assaulting one of the brothers, causing actual bodily harm.
CCTV footage of the chaotic, late-night scenes on April 5, going into the early hours of April 6 last year, showed the two victims being outnumbered during the melee inside and outside the pub.
Fight spills into street
Prosecutor Jennifer Gatland said the two brothers had been out drinking with two other men in Ripon and went into The White Horse at about 11pm. They were inside the toilets when two of the attackers walked in and said they wanted to fight one of them.
The other brother said they didn’t want a fight and they walked out of the toilets with the intention of leaving the pub, but they were followed into the bar by the two men where words were exchanged and a group of men surrounded them.
One of the brothers lunged at Hyde, leading to a mass brawl involving at least five men.
Hyde then punched one of the victims to the floor, then hit the victim’s brother over the head with a glass bottle he had picked up from the bar.
“At this point, several of the men, including Joshua McKittrick, are punching (the brother who had just been hit with the glass bottle),” said Ms Gatland.
The trouble spilled out onto the street where Anderson attacked one of the brothers, followed him down the road and assaulted him again. As the victim’s brother emerged from the pub, he was “repeatedly punched and kicked”.
McKittrick then appeared “from stage left” and struck one of the brothers with a haymaker which knocked him straight to the ground, unconscious, as people came out of the pub to witness the horror unfolding in the street.
After McKittrick delivered the devastating blow, someone was heard to shout: “One-punch knock-out!”
Permanently scarred
The “poleaxed” victim, whose face was covered in blood, was “left for dead” on the ground as the attackers walked off, but he eventually regained consciousness and was being loaded into an ambulance when McIttrick returned to the scene, ostensibly to make sure he hadn’t killed him.
The victim was taken to Harrogate District Hospital’s emergency department where he was treated for injuries including facial bruising.
His brother also needed hospital treatment for multiple injuries including a bruised eye socket, swelling behind his ear, bruising to the bridge of his nose, clotted blood in his nostril, a split lip and grazing to his arm.
The brother who was hit with the glass bottle was left with visible scars, including a permanent scar on his nose. One of his teeth was permanently fragmented.
He said his injuries had dashed his hopes of promotion in the Royal Navy and put his career back six months following a military downgrading.
His brother, who was knocked unconscious by the “knock-out” blow from McKittrick, said the attack had “destroyed my sense of safety and life as I knew it”.
Previous convictions
Anderson – formerly of Leeming Lane, Boroughbridge, but now living in Skipton – had 18 previous convictions for 34 offences including six public-disorder matters, several assaults including against a police officer, three robberies, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, affray and possessing an offensive weapon.
Hyde, of Manor Close, Melmerby, had six previous convictions for 10 offences including supplying Class B drugs, but nothing for violence.
McKittrick, of St Olave’s Close, Ripon, had one previous conviction but nothing for violence.
Defence barrister Nicholas Leadbeater, for McKittrick, said his client had walked back to the scene because he was “terrified” that he may have killed the man.
‘Relieved he was still alive’
Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, described the violence as “horrendous”.
He told the defendants:
You got involved with two brothers who had gone out to have a drink in Ripon, enjoying themselves.
It was a busy night (at The White Horse), members of the public were enjoying themselves, not expecting to see something that turned out to be a scene out of the Wild West.
He noted that during the “outbreak of fast and serious violence”, terrified pub-goers were “scattering” this way and that as McIttrick and Anderson “repeatedly punched (one of the brothers) from either side”.
“He is completely outnumbered and he is punched to the floor,” added Mr Morris. “The scene is mayhem.”
He told McIttrick:
You attacked (one of the brothers) by delivering the knock-out blow which poleaxes him to the floor. You all then go off and leave him unconscious in the road.
You, McIttrick, did come back to see him loaded into the ambulance, no doubt relieved he was still alive.
The judge said that an immediate prison sentence for all three defendants was “unavoidable…for such shocking violence on the streets of Ripon”.
He added:
It was prolonged, it was shocking…and a man was left unconscious, bleeding, left for dead.
Anderson was jailed for 20 months. Hyde and McIttrick, neither of whom had a record for violence, were each jailed for 16 months.
0