Colchester brawl would have put people off area - judge

Alexander Birkin, 24, Carmen Henry, 23, and Luke Moncur, 23, were involved in a fracas which involved one of the victims being kicked whilst he lay defenceless on the ground.

The incident started at 1.30am when Henry was provoked by a derogatory comment made by a passer-by outside a taxi rank, Ipswich Crown Court heard on Thursday.

Dingle Clark, prosecuting, said Henry then attacked the man before Birkin and Moncur joined in.

The three defendants appeared before a judge at Ipswich Crown Court on Thursday (Image: Daniel Rees, Newsquest) He said: “Henry approaches one of the men who are the object of the attack, swaying her arms towards his head.

“He grabs hold of her arm and doesn’t let go which and results in people being pushed into their way.

“The defendant Burkin approaches this group and there was what could be described as two to three punches – he appears to be dragged away from someone else.

"Everyone involved then fell over before Moncur started swinging punches towards one man whilst Burkin kicks him as he lay on the ground.”

Birkin, of Furze Crescent in Colchester, Henry, of Charles Pell Road in Colchester, and Moncur, of Glebe Way in Jaywick, all admitted one charge of affray.

The court was told Moncur had eight previous convictions including incidents of violence and possession of offensive weapons.

Henry, who was 19 at the time of the incident, had no previous convictions whilst Birkin had a criminal record for domestic assault.

Steven Dyble, mitigating for Moncur, said: “The defendants were proceeding down the High Street when were some uncomplimentary things said about the female defendant.

“There was something of a rection that sparked a much larger incident.”

Sentencing the defendants, Judge Nicola Talbot-Hadley said: “We have seen the affray is a particularly unpleasant public disorder episode in the High Street of Colchester.

CCTV cameras captured the incident from August 2020 (Image: Pexels)

“It’s the sort of incident that should not happen on public streets – you can see the cars trying to swerve to get out of the way and one of you could have been knocked over.

“People walking by would have been frightened and put off Colchester High Street seeing what was going on.”

All three were sentenced to an 18-month community order and a £95 surcharge.

Birkin and Moncur were fined a further £200.