FOUR MEN who carried out a 'vile and vicious attack' in Denbigh have been sentenced.

Jack Montgomery, of Heol Afon in St Asaph, Thomas Staveley of Y Maes in Denbigh and Robert Lawson and Daniel Clarke, both of Y Weirglodd in Denbigh, appeared before Mold Crown Court on Thursday, June 13.

All had initially pleaded not guilty to a count of wounding/inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent at a Plea and Trial Preparation Hearing in September of last year.

But, having been re-arraigned on April 22 of this year, all changed their pleas to guilty.

Elen Owen, prosecuting, told the court how the complainant in the case - Ellis Vaughan - had been out drinking in Denbigh on July 25, 2021.

On that night, he had seen a group of men - the four named above - 'throwing food' at a group of young women.

Mr Vaughan had gone over to intervene and one of the defendants, Lawson, 'became aggressive'.

Police officers at the scene advised the complainant to go home. However, he stopped off at a kebab house in town and bumped into the group of men again.

Mr Vaughan then said 'something' to Lawson and the defendant responded by headbutting him, and it was at that point that 'everything went blank' for the complainant.

Witnesses in the case told of how Lawson was 'swinging punches', with fellow defendant Montgomery joining in with 'repeated punches'.

Mr Vaughan retaliated with punches of his own before Staveley also joined in by punching the complainant.

TOP STORIES TODAY

Montgomery then punched Mr Vaughan three more times, with the third causing him to fall back and hit his head on the stone steps, with one witness describing hearing a 'thud' as he did so.

Montgomery was said to have a 'shocked' look on his face when this happened, but fellow defendant Clarke - according to witness statements - still proceeded to 'stamp' on Mr Vaughan's face 'four or five times' while he had 'blood streaming from his mouth'.

That witness said that the incident was 'horrible to watch'.

Another witness intervened and led Mr Vaughan away towards police officers.

When he was taken to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, it was revealed that the complainant had suffered bruising to the back of his head, a fracture to his jaw and sinuses and a piece of his bone was 'protruding through his cheek into his mouth'.

Mr Vaughan has since recovered but says he still 'suffers from headaches and numbness occasionally'.

In a victim personal statement, he added that the incident had left him 'apprehensive over repercussions from the group' and had an impact on the family business he works within.

The four men, who have no previous convictions, were all arrested on July 28, 2021.

Simon Killeen, defending the now 23-year-old Lawson, said that the incident had been 'out of character' for him.

John Wyn Williams, defending Montgomery who is now 21, said that the incident was a 'nasty' one which was 'clearly influenced' by alcohol.

He added that the defendant was now a 'very different man to the one seen in Denbigh that night'.

Oliver King, defending Clarke who is now 23, said that the defendant himself had admitted to 'drinking 10 pints' on the night in question. He concluded that he had 'completely overreacted' during the incident.

Staveley, now 25, was defended by Owen Edwards who said that he was 'genuinely remorseful' for his part in the 'disgraceful incident'.

In her closing remarks, Judge Nicola Saffman labelled the incident as a 'vile and vicious attack which resulted in horrible injuries for Mr Vaughan'.

Lawson, Montgomery and Staveley were all handed 21-month sentences suspended for a period of two years alongside 300 hours of unpaid work.

Clarke received the same sentence but with an additional 15 days of rehabilitation activity requirement added on.

They will all also have to pay £1,000 each in compensation to Mr Vaughan.