An innocent dad died after falling and hitting his head as a mass pub fight erupted around him.
Six men, including three of victim Glenn Boocock's friends, appeared in court to be sentenced for their role in a four-minute fight which led to tragic consequences.
Electrician Glenn, 37, sustained a head injury shortly before 2am on June 7, and was sadly found dead in his home 11 days later after failing to arrive at work.
Glenn, of Lincoln Road, Peterborough, had been watching the England- Netherlands Nations League semi-final at The Dragon pub in Werrington with a group of friends, before they decided to head into town for a drink.
They ended up at O'Neil's on Broadway, after having been turned away from a previous pub as they were still wearing their football shirts.
When it came time to leave, the group went outside to the nearby taxi rank to make their ways home.
While waiting for the taxi, a scuffle of pushing and shoving ensued between various people, as Glenn's group were trying to get into their taxi.
Glenn was almost immediately knocked to the floor, where he lay unconscious as the fight developed around him.
Judge Matthew Lowe told Peterborough Crown Court on Wednesday (March 4) how Glenn fell to the floor as "the scuffling group effectively surged or moved from the pavement into the road".
Three of Glenn's friends, Jamie Spires, 28, Billy Hilliam, 39, and Gary Gibbs, 33, joined three others in learning their fate after being charged with affray.
Those three friends had been involved in the fight outside the pub, which lasted little more than four minutes and veered into and out of the road.
The other three men sentenced were Gavin Chappell, 34, Damian Narciso, 32 and Miles Willcox, 24, who had been involved in the fight with Glenn's friends.
As the fight developed, Willcox, of North Street, Stanground, was seen on CCTV footage played to the court grabbing a bottle from the nearby pavement and bringing it back to the fight.
Over the course of slightly more than four minutes, the groups faced off in the street, though Judge Lowe noted that there was "no indication that any punch had any particular meaningful effect on the recipient of it".
Eventually, the violence subsided and the groups appeared to be drawing matters to a close with friendly hugs before making their ways home, with Glenn's friends taking him to hospital once he regained consciousness.
Expert medical advice from a consultant clinical and forensic neuroradiologist concluded that Glenn’s traumatic brain injury is likely to have occurred at least several days before his death.
An investigation was launched, but police could find no evidence to show a direct assault on Glenn, and therefore no charges could be brought for an assault.
From football to fighting in the street
Adam Norris represented Spires, of Hawkeshead Way, Peterborough, Hilliam, of Paston Ridings, Peterborough, and Gibbs, of Sapperton, Peterborough, before the court.
He told the court of the events of that night, describing it as a "pretty good night" before the unfortunate incident, with just some "minor friction at the taxi rank".
Mr Norris said: "They'd gone out as a group, it had been a pretty good night, and in fact many of them had the following day off.
"It was a good night they had spent in the pub watching the football, and it had been a good game and a good evening, apart from the loss of England at the hands of Holland.
"And when they look back they are filled, each and every one of them, and as a group, they are filled with regret.
"It was absolutely unlike any of them individually, or them as a group, to be involved in trouble and they wish to stress they were not looking for trouble in any way, shape, or form.
"It was something that happened and they found themselves both peripherally and at the centre of it, and then it finished and they picked themselves up and they went home.
"And in many ways, the matter would have ended there, but for the tragic death later on of their friend Glenn Boocock.
"He was their childhood friend, he was out with them that evening and when his tragic death occurred they were absolutely distraught and they were, of course, absolutely at the forefront of trying to help the police understand what had happened that evening."
He went on to describe the remorse felt by the three men, saying: "There are many 'what ifs' and 'if onlys' that have run through the heads of these three men.
"They are absolutely clear in what they say, that they just wanted to go home.
"They were in a taxi on their way home, but once this scuffle had started, once Mr Boocock had been hit, it seemed to each of them that it was almost impossible for the scuffling to stop there."
Family men with growing careers
Representing Narciso and Willcox was Mauro Maselli, who described Narciso as a "hardworking member of society".
He went described Narciso's role in the fight as "peripheral" saying this came after he was "provoked by threats" and "attacked and assaulted" himself.
Mr Maselli spoke of Narciso's personal life, explaining how he "leaves at 5am and gets home at 8pm" for his job as a site manager at a recycling plant in Bury St Edmunds.
He went on to explain how "there has been an element of self-rehabilitation in his life", and that he's "devoted to his family" and one-year-old child.
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Speaking of Willcox's personal background, Mr Maselli explained to the court that Willcox was working as a bricklayer currently, and is described by his employer as a "valued member of the team".
It was also mentioned that Willcox has ADHD, with Mr Maselli saying it "may be an underlying cause of his behavioural issues, going back to when he was at school".
Mr Maselli also made mention of Willcox's consumption of a "cocktail of alcohol and drugs".
He said Mr Willcox made an indication to probation officers that he "wishes to address his use of those substances, stating in his words 'I'm sick of drink and drugs'."
Representing Chappell was David Claxton, who described Chappell's actions as reactive in that "he was not simply engineering further aggression" but had seen "a danger to one or two of his friends and went over to offer protection to them, whether that was right or wrong, that was his perception at the time".
He went on to speak of Chappell's home life, explaining how he "lives with his partner who has a young child" and "his existence is centred on work and family-life".
A "serious example of public disorder"
Summing up the events during his sentencing, Judge Lowe said: "The precise cause, the precise trigger, for those events is not entirely clear. The defendants in the dock really represent two separate groups.
"What is clear, whatever initially caused each individual to become involved, they did each individually become involved in this serious example of public disorder, each individually using unlawful violence at various points."
He went on to describe how "member of both groups were actively involved in violence" and that there was "a lot of individuals squaring up to each other in some sort of stand-off, there is pushing, scuffling and wrestling, on occasions punches are thrown.
"There is no indication in the video that any punch had any particular meaningful effect on the recipient of it."
Willcox was sentenced to five months of immediate prison time, with Judge Lowe suggesting his position was different to the other men because when he picked up the bottle for a second time he was "prepared to use that bottle at that stage in order to threaten violence."
As he was taken out of the court, he turned to family who had filled the courtroom and apologised for the events that had happened.
One member of Glenn's family responded to his apology by telling him it was a "bit late".
Narciso was sentenced to five months, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
The remaining defendants, Spires, Chappell, Gibbs, and Hilliam, were each sentenced to four months, suspended for 18 months and 120 hours of unpaid work.
Explaining their sentences, Judge Lowe said to the remaining defendants: "What you did that night is largely out of character for you, and the prospects of rehabilitation are relatively strong.
"It seems to me, each of you can be punished by way of doing unpaid work for the community."
He went on to warn them: "Each of you has come very very close to going to prison today, but as I've already indicated it seems to me that in relation to the five of you, what took place that night can properly be characterised as out of character.
"All of you work, all of you have features of stability in your life and if I was to send you to prison, even for a relatively short period, I risk disrupting or possibly destroying those constructive features in your life. I'm conscious many of you are providing financially and emotionally for your family, partners and children."l
Detective Inspector Emma Pitts of the Beds, Cambs and Herts Major Crime Unit (MCU) said: “Although no outcome will ever bring Glenn back I am pleased we were able to charge six men – including three of his friends – with affray.
“Violence on this level will never be acceptable and this case highlights the heartbreaking consequences of being involved in violence such as this.”