An attack by four women and two men on a couple on Cleethorpes High Street has been described as “hideous.”
Rylan Leshone, 20, of Wellington Street admitted two offences of assault causing action bodily harm on the married couple after a Bank Holiday celebration on May 26, 2023. The drunken mob violence lasted over nine minutes and was captured on CCTV.
Prosecuting at Grimsby Crown Court, Maya Hanson said the CCTV captured the group of nightclub revellers stamping on the couple’s heads and kicking them repeatedly before returning again and again to deliver punches and kicks as the victims cowered on the High Street pavement near a bus stop.
Even after the females repeatedly kicked out at the couple cowering, injured on the ground, Leshone walked up and threw several more punches.
An ambulance arrived several minutes later and the injured woman was treated for a bleeding nose and bruising, while her husband suffered a swollen face, cuts and a head injury.
Reading the victim impact statement of the injured woman, Miss Hanson said she worried for her children if they went out in Cleethorpes. “This will stop me going out. It makes me not want to leave my home,” she said.
Blows and kicks rained down on the couple as the gang turned violent after an exchange of words at the bus stop. Several taxis drove past as the violence erupted.
The group kicked and punched and then walked off but returned again and again to inflict more blows and kicks at the couple.
In March last year, the other five members of the group, who had all been at The Beach nightclub, appeared at court on assault charges. Recorder Gordon David Gordon described it as “drunken mob violence.”.
At their sentencing hearing, the recorder said: ” This is the kind of drunken mob violence which inclines law-abiding people to avoid town centres. This was a random attack on complete strangers. It was completely unjustified, disgraceful and shameful.”
The five defendants all admitted two offences of causing actual bodily harm to a husband and wife on May 27 last year. They are: Robyn Brown, 20, of Weelsby Street, Grimsby; her twin sister, Jess Brown, 20, of Sandringham Road, Cleethorpes; Megan Dale, 20, of Claremont Road, Grimsby; Savannah Peterson, 20, of Stevenson Place, Cleethorpes, and Reece Topham, 21, of Weelsby Street, Grimsby.
There was a large number of police officers involved in quelling the violence. Leshone and all the defendants were of previous good character with no prior convictions, the court heard.
At his separate sentencing hearing on Monday, January 6, Leshone’s barrister Craig Lowe said his client was only 18 years old at the time and that he was trying to help his friend whose hair was being pulled. He told how the other defendants were sentenced to suspended prison sentences and given unpaid work and told to wear drunk tags.
Mr Lowe said his client had “limited involvement.” He added he worked at a local factory and earned £300 per week.
Recorder Geraldine Kelly said: “This was sustained and hideous and dreadful for those watching it. It went on for nine minutes and it was a nasty attack.” She added the couple were vulnerable because they were intoxicated and said they should have been left in peace. She said they sustained “deeply unpleasant injuries.”
Recorder Kelly said: “It is so serious, only custody is appropriate. Otherwise, it would be sending the message to the community that it is acceptable and it is not.”
She sentenced Leshone to nine months detention, suspended for 18 months. She ordered him to do 100 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £425 costs.