Brothers jailed for 'appalling' Stockton street brawl

A judge said brothers John and Michael McDonagh had fallen out for some reason in the "ancient past"

Two feuding brothers have been jailed for an "appalling" town centre brawl.

Violence erupted between John and Michael McDonagh in Stockton on 7 April 2022 while both men were out drinking.

John McDonagh, 39, was jailed for 31 months and Michael McDonagh, 37, for two years at Teesside Crown Court after admitting violent disorder.

The latter's daughter Christine McDonagh, 18, who slashed her uncle's back with a glass bottle, was given a community order.

Judge Jonathan Carroll said the brothers engaged in "frankly appalling brawling behaviour" because for "some reason in the ancient past" they fell out with each other.

He said the fight at about 19:00 BST in Stockton town centre was in full view of the public who were "entitled to go about their business feeling safe and secure".

'Kept in the family'

The court heard the brothers were shouting at and threatening each other at Che Bar before Michael McDonagh and his then 16-year-old daughter moved to the Thomas Sheraton.

The judge said that was the opportunity for the unpleasantness to end and the feuding brothers to stay apart, but John McDonagh, of New Holme Estate in Wingate, chose to follow his brother and niece to the second pub.

Brothers John and Michael McDonagh had a brawl outside the Thomas Sheraton in Stockton

CCTV footage showed the brothers grappling in the street, punching each other as they brawled on the floor, while Christine McDonagh smashed a glass bottle and slashed at her uncle's back.

Sam Faulks, in mitigation for John McDonagh, said: "Thankfully the consequences of the incident were kept very much in the family and didn't spill out to inconvenience or hurt passers-by."

He said his client suffered the worst injuries in the brawl caused by Christine McDonagh, adding: "He has doubtless learnt the error of his ways."

'Peacekeeper'

Tom Bennett, in mitigation for Michael McDonagh, said his client was a married father-of-six whose youngest child was born on the day of the brawl.

"The fighting that takes place, while unpleasant for members of the public to see, did not involve any members of the public," Mr Bennett said.

The court heard both men had a number of previous convictions and John McDongah was out of prison on a suspended sentence at the time of the brawl, which the fighting put him in breach of.

Judge Carroll jailed him for two years and three months for the fight and a further four months for breaching the suspended sentence order.

Michael McDongah, of Sandringham Road in Thornaby, was jailed for two years.

The judge said had Christine McDongah, also of Sandringham Road, been an adult at the time of the attack she would have been sentenced to prison, although it would have been suspended due to her lack of previous convictions.

He said she had initially acted as a "peacekeeper" but then got "significantly involved" in the violence.

She was given a 12-month community order with 20 rehabilitation requirement days and 60 hours unpaid work.