3 days ago
Sunderland city centre brawl 'left public frightened'
Two men began brawling in a busy city centre in front of shocked passers-by, a court has Slee, 43, and Aarron McKenzie, 36, started their fight in a side street before it spilled out into the centre of Sunderland in November, Newcastle Crown Court was topless and covered in blood and McKenzie had various injuries to his face when police arrived to arrest them, the court heard, with Judge Sarah Mallett saying it was "frightening" for members of the men admitted affray with McKenzie given a suspended prison sentence and Slee's sentence deferred.
'Messing about'
The fight was caught on CCTV at about 16:00 GMT on 23 November in the centre of Sunderland, prosecutor Rachel Butt the footage, the men could be seen hitting each other in an alleyway beside some bins before going out into a busy street and continuing the top was torn off during the altercation and he fell to the floor, with McKenzie continuing to land punches on his head and face, the court reported hearing one of the men saying he would "punch the head in" of the other and they were shocked by the sudden and vicious violence, Ms Butt said.
In mitigation, Slee's barrister Jason Smith said the men had been "messing about" and "shadow boxing" before McKenzie knocked Slee, of Wraith Terrace in Ryhope, backwards and the fight barrister Nick Lane said McKenzie, of Ridley Street, had been out socialising in Sunderland when words were exchanged between the two men, who did not know each other, leading to the violence.
'Witnesses shocked'
Both men apologised for their "unacceptable" and "unedifying" behaviour in a public place and there were no hard feelings between them, the court who had 50 offences on his criminal record, was subject to a suspended prison term at the time imposed for a non-dwelling burglary, while McKenzie, who had 26 offences, was in breach of a community Mallett said the fight moved from a "secluded spot into the middle of Sunderland city centre" at a time when there were many members of the public said there "could easily have been families and children" witnessing the violence and it was "very frightening", adding it was no surprise witnesses reported being was jailed for nine months, suspended for 18 months, with a four-month sentence for Slee was deferred to a future date to allow ongoing drug rehabilitation and probation service work to continue.
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