Havilland Street brawl "not Romeo and Juliet"

Monday 25 February 2019

A mix of prison and community service has been used to punish a group of four involved in a brawl last summer - a fight over a lover in which one man brought his mother, while the other brought a hammer.

Around 30 people were seen on CCTV watching as the violence erupted between two parties in July 2018, all advertised and exacerbated on social media by those on the periphery.

Four people were sentenced together last week charged with public order offences for the violence and threats of violence used during the altercation.

Of the accused; Andrew O'Sullivan, 20, and his mother Deborah De Freitas, 42, were part of the group who approached the home of Layton Mahy, 24, on 16 July 2018. Mahy was joined by a friend, Jose Pires, 23, who also pleaded guilty to the charges relating to the fight that ensued. 

Two months of text messages between O'Sullivan and Mahy led to the physical fight that night. The court heard that O'Sullivan announced in a WhatsApp group: "I might finally get the brawl, O'Sullivan vs Mahy," on the night of the offence while sending Mahy text messages enticing him to Salerie corner for a fight over a woman Mahy was with at the time. 

O'Sullivan's mother, De Freitas, texted her son to say: "I'll ******* wreck her and him," in reference to the female victim in question and Mahy who they expected to meet that evening at Salerie Corner. When no-one appeared at Salerie Corner, De Freitas drove a group of four to the Odeon car park where a number of people had gathered. The court heard friends of the accused had advertised on social media that the fight was to be relocated there.

The group then followed O'Sullivan and De Freitas to Havilland Street at around 21:45 where the altercation eventually took place, "I'm satisfied that you were the instigator," said Judge Cherry McMillen to O'Sullivan. 

Pictured: Havilland Street where the brawl occurred.

CCTV footage shown during sentencing showed the two defendants coming up Havilland Street to be met by the woman, then Mahy, followed shortly afterward by Pires. Mahy was seen to bring a hammer into the street. It could not be seen from the CCTV whether the hammer was used at any point.

"I don't think you were capable of actually crystallising in your head what you were going to do with it," said Judge McMillen. 

Advocate Sam Maindonald  argued that the act of taking the hammer to the fight rather than staying in the building was done so to avoid a situation whereby the group would enter the premises where his landlady and other residents were present. 

"You acted with bravado, what you should've done is call 999," said Judge McMillen. 

In summary of the case against De Freitas Judge McMillen said he was in court for pushing the woman up against the wall where they were described as being engaged in a "grapple". Photographs of the bruising the woman sustained during the fight were shown as evidence. Judge McMillen pointed out in summary that the woman "could have stopped" the incident by talking to her son.  

"You did not act like a mother and you did not act like the adult, but that's not what you are in court for today. These are harsh words for you to hear but your behaviour was absolutely deplorable," she said.

Pictured: Judge Cherry McMillen watched CCTV of the incident several times in coming to her conclusion.

Pires was described as landing 12 "strong blows to the head" onto Mr O' Sullivan during the fight. He was reminded that injuries to the head are "most serious" but was commended for his genuine remorse in court. 

Judge McMillen said in sentencing that the fight at Havilland Street took place in public at a time when children could be present and blamed the social media posts for creating a tense atmosphere. 

"When I saw the CCTV and read the reports, there was only one word in my mind: despair. Is this really Guernsey in the 21st century? Is that really representative of this beautiful island that we live in?" she directed to the group.

"I don't understand why you decided Mr Mahy would be the target," Judge McMillen said to O'Sullivan. 

"This is not Romeo and Juliet, it was something much more tawdry." 

O'Sullivan and De Freitas were both sentenced for having used or threatened unlawful violence towards four individuals including the other two defendants in the case under section three of the public order law. O'Sullivan was also sentenced on a separate assault charge against two people which took place in November while he was on bail in which he brandished a knife. 

O'Sulivan received three months youth detention for the section three offence and five months for the assault to run concurrently as of 20 November when he was first held in custody. De Freitas received 120 hours community service as a direct alternative to two months imprisonment.

Mahy was sentenced to two months imprisonment for having with him an offensive weapon without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. Pires was given the same sentence for his abusive behaviour towards De Freitas and O'Sullivan.