Swansea: Family feud brawlers sentenced after cemetery fight

Grieving families witnessed "mayhem" as rival family members brawled in Morriston cemetery in Swansea

Seven men involved in a cemetery brawl that left two people seriously injured have been sentenced for their roles in a family feud during two funerals.

Armed officers and a helicopter were called to Morriston cemetery, Swansea after reports of "appalling" violence.

It involved members of four families from Carmarthenshire and Cardiff where the men used baseball bats and spat on the floor of the remembrance room.

Sentencing took place at Swansea Crown Court on Monday.

Grieving families witnessed the mass brawl and had to dodge speeding cars, the court was previously told.

"The death of a family member is a traumatic event in anyone's life and one of deep sadness," said judge Paul Thomas KC during sentencing.

Remembrance room desecrated

"The funeral should be a sacred time. But a family service was desecrated by two warring factions," he said. "Vehicles were driven around the grounds of Morriston crematorium as if it were a racetrack.

Patrick Joseph Murphy (left) and Andrew John Thomas were described as "instigators" who played a "leading role" in the brawl

"Armed battles were fought out among the two rival groups in the crematorium grounds."

He added: "The remembrance room was desecrated by a male armed with a baseball bat spitting on the floor and drinking water from vases."

The court heard the brawl was the result of an ongoing feud between two family factions, the O'Brian and Coffey faction, and the Murphy and Thomas faction.

Duty to end the feud

Members of the Coffey and O'Brian families were at the cemetery for a blessing of Michael and Margaret O'Brian's gravestones.

The judge described Patrick Joseph Murphy, 40, from Llanelli and Andrew John Thomas, 40, from Llanelli as "instigators" who played a "leading role" in the brawl.

Murphy arrived at the graveside blessing with a hammer, he said, smashing the windscreen of a van belonging to the Coffey family.

He then used a baseball bat to smash vases with flowers crashing to the floor in the remembrance room.

The judge said Thomas "used a vehicle as a weapon". The judge added: "You wore a face-mask and chased Coffey and hit another vehicle and you were only caught by telephone data."

James Coffey (left), Jeffrey Tawse (middle) and John Coffee Junior were also sentenced for their part in the brawl

Both Martin and John O'Brian were described by the judge as having "violent pasts".

They were among seven men who were sentenced:

• Murphy, 40, from Llanelli, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon. He was sentenced to two years and eight months in jail

• Thomas, 40, from Llanelli pleaded guilty to violent disorder and dangerous driving. He was sentenced to three years

• Martin O'Brian, 58, from Llanelli pleaded guilty to violent disorder. He was sentenced to 16 months

• John O'Brian, 53, from Llanelli pleaded guilty to violent disorder. He was sentenced to 16 months

• James Coffey, 45, from Rumney, Cardiff drove close to people in the cemetery. He pleaded guilty to violent disorder, dangerous driving, and possessing an offensive weapon and was sentenced to two years and three months

• Jeffrey Tawse, 24, from Rumney, Cardiff chased people at the funeral with a shovel. He pleaded guilty to violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon and was sentenced to 18 months in prison

• John Coffey Junior, 24, from Rumney in Cardiff chased members of the rival family with a hockey stick. He pleaded guilty to violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon and was sentenced to 18 months in prison

• John Murphy, 18, from Llanelli pleaded guilty to violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon. He was sentenced to 12 months at a young offender's unit, suspended for 18 months and ordered to carry out 150 hours of community work

• Patrick Murphy, 19, from Llanelli pleaded guilty to violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon. He was sentenced to 12 months at a young offender's unit, suspended for 18 months and ordered to carry out 150 hours of community work