A JUDGE has condemned six people for their participation in a fight outside a pub which left a man with serious injuries and requiring full-time care.

The three men and three women, aged between 23 and 31, were sentenced by Judge Daniel Williams at Newport Crown Court on August 7.

They had all previously admitted a charge of affray.

The court was told Scott Morgan had been knocked unconscious by a punch thrown in the fight near the Harp Inn in Gelligaer, shortly after midnight on May 18 last year.

His head injuries have left him suffering fits and seizures, the court was told.

Among the defendants charged with affray were his brother, Lloyd Morgan; and partner Jade Forrest – who has assumed the role of her injured boyfriend's carer since the incident.

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Judge Williams was shown CCTV footage of the altercation, which began inside the pub and then spilled outside and into St Cattwg's Avenue.

Sue Ferrier, prosecuting, said the video showed a "prolonged incident" which only stopped when police officers – called by a local resident – arrived on the scene.

One of the defendants, Lloyd Morgan, was found in possession of a small quantity of the Class-B drug mephedrone when he was arrested, Ms Ferrier said.

When police went to arrest another defendant, Jonathan Davies, at his home the following day, officers found 710 cannabis plants "at the early stage of propagation", she added.

The other defendants charged with affray were Amelia Bray, Tori Sheehan, and Geraint Shelton – the court heard it was a punch thrown by Shelton which knocked Scott Morgan unconscious.

To the six defendants, Judge Williams said they had been involved in an "incident of mass violence".

"Violence breeds violence, and when it is on this scale there can be terrible results," he said. "Scott Morgan was seriously injured."

The judge added: "You will all do well to think of others close to you before you decide to settle grievances in drink by causing violence."

The defendants were sentenced as follows:

  • Amelia Bray, 23, of St Cattwg's Avenue, Gelligaer – an 18-month community order with 120 hours of unpaid work.
  • Jonathan Davies, 31, of Heol Uchaf, Nelson – a total of two years in prison for the production of cannabis, with sentences of six months in prison for affray and two months in prison for breaching a community order to run concurrently. The judge ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the cannabis and the drug production paraphernalia.
  • Jade Forrest, 30, of Greenhill Place, Gelligaer – an 18-month community order with 120 hours of unpaid work.
  • Lloyd Morgan, 25, of Brecon Road, Merthyr Tydfil – an 18-month community order with 120 hours of unpaid work. The judge imposed no separate penalty for the possession of mephedrone but ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drug.
  • Tori Sheehan, 23, of Greenhill Place, Gelligaer – an 18-month community order with 120 hours of unpaid work.
  • Geraint Shelton, 28, of Church Road Gelligaer – a 10-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, and 180 hours of unpaid work.

The defendants, apart from Davies, were also ordered to pay £500 costs and a victim surcharge (£115 for Shelton and £85 for the four defendants who received community orders).