A COUPLE who brawled in a Gloucestershire pub walked from court with suspended sentences.

Gerald Hawkeswood, 60, who was yesterday described by his lawyer as no shrinking violet, and Samantha Bryant, 47, went to The Village Inn, Sedbury, at the start of the May Bank Holiday weekend in 2018. The pair were then a couple. 

Two other men were said to have been acting drunkenly, including at one point simulating a sex act on each other. One of the men had drunk more than 10 pints, it was claimed.

Hawkeswood got into an argument with one of the men then, sensing trouble, called his son, who was a doorman.

A little later, the man approached Hawkeswood from behind and placed him in a bear hug. His son intervened and tried to pull the man from his father.

Hawkeswood went on to punch the man then gouge at his face. The victim managed to bite down on his attacker’s finger.

CCTV showed the victim curl up to protect himself. He later appeared to go limp.

Bryant weighed in, striking the man a number of times with her fist while holding a glass in her hand. She took her knee to him as he lay on the floor. Hawkeswood then kicked the man.

Words were exchanged outside in the car park, but the couple then left the scene.

The assault was witnessed by a number of people in the pub at the time, including a family with children.

The attackers’ main victim lost a tooth and suffered bruising to his face. Another man was also struck in the assault and was left with a broken nose.

Hawkeswood, of Trannon Court, Thornhill, Cwmbran, and Bryant, of Queens Road, Chepstow, pleaded guilty to affray last month, part-way through their trial for assault and affray.

David Maunder, for Hawkeswood, said his client accepted he could come across as aggressive and had a temper. He was a stranger in the pub, while almost everyone else was a local. “He was in alien territory, if I can put it that way, and he accepts he argued the toss with the other men,” the barrister said – adding his client was “no shrinking violet”. Hawkeswood had two grown-up sons, with whom he lived, and had struggled with his mental health.

Simon Goodman, for Bryant, said his client’s strong personal mitigation and the fact she was viewed as a realistic prospect of rehabilitation meant she could be spared immediate imprisonment. Athough she had committed the affray while on bail for another set of offences, for which she later received a suspended sentence, she had completed that order without incident and had not been in trouble since.

Both lawyers noted the delay in the case coming to be sentenced.

Judge Jason Taylor QC sentenced Hawkeswood to 19 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years with 200 hours of unpaid work and 16 rehabilitation days. Bryant received 17 months suspended for two years, a four month curfew and six rehabilitation days. Each defendant was ordered to pay £500 compensation.

Sentencing the former couple at Swindon Crown Court on Tuesday, the judge said: “It was a joint attack involving two of you and you had also called your son for added strength, albeit he didn’t get involved in a criminal way. It was sustained, you both used weapons – you, Mr Hawkeswood used your feet, you Ms Bryant your knee.”