FOUR men have been jailed for a violent, mob-handed attack, using a machete and a knife, on a family in their own home.
Ringleader Paul Jeffels, and three Nash brothers, Craig, Simon, and Liam, smashed the windows of the home after ramming a car with a 4x4 before two of them started swiping at the occupants of the house with the weapons.
The family’s terrifying ordeal only came to end when their attackers fled the scene when they heard the sirens of approaching police vehicles, Teesside Crown Court heard.
The violence erupted hours after Jeffels threatened to ‘smash-up’ the house on Scaling Court, Guisborough, and force the family out of the area after he became embroiled in a feud with one of the people living there.
Daniel Penman, prosecuting, said the group used rocks to smash the windows of the property before Jeffels and Craig Nash attacked the terrified family hiding inside their home with the machete and large knife.
He said: “They proceeded to use concrete to smash windows on the ground floor, they were shouting threats, and carrying weapons.
“Paul Jeffels and Craig Nash leaned into the property, through a broken window, swinging machetes. The police were called and at one stage Jeffels was ramming the hire car belonging to the householder causing damage.
“Paul Jeffels attacked the man with the machete through the smashed window, he managed to block to the attack and suffered only a cut to his arm.”
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A woman in the house was also hit by a brick as she tried to protect her father, the court heard.
In separate victim impact statements, the four victims spoke of the devastating impact the violence of March 3, last year, had on their lives, leaving them fearful of further attacks and threats.
Tom Mitchell, for Jeffels, said his client accepted he was facing a lengthy custodial sentence but reminded the judge that he had already been in custody for more than a year whilst on remand.
Paul Newcombe, representing Craig Nash, said the defendant had no relevant previous convictions.
Andrew Turton, mitigating on behalf of Liam Nash, said the father-of-one had moved away from the area to avoid getting into trouble but had been drawn back on that evening.
And Jonathan Gittins, on behalf of the Simon Nash, urged the judge to consider giving his client a suspended sentence as he had kept out of trouble for the last 12 months.
Recorder Richard Thyne QC described the violent attack as pre-planned and branded Jeffels the ringleader as he sentenced the men for their role in the violence.
“You turned up mob-handed with the clear intent of using and threatening violence to that family and causing damage to their property – and that is exactly what you did.
“It was all because of an ongoing disagreement that you, Paul Jeffels, had with one of their partners. Indeed, that very morning you been to the house and threatened on that night you would come back and destroy the house and drive the family out,” he said.
“I have heard victim personal statements from all of the witnesses and a common theme is that they have never been so scared in their lives, they genuinely feared for their lives.
“They were plainly absolutely terrified by a planned, sustained and deliberate act of group violence committed towards the family when they should have been able to feel safe in their own home.”
Sentencing Jeffels, of Mulgrave Court, Guisborough, to 32 months for affray, possession of a bladed article, causing actual bodily harm, and two charged of criminal damage, the judge said: “You were plainly the ringleader in all of this.”
Craig Nash, 28, of Borrowby Court, Guisborough, was sentenced to a total of 27 months for affray, criminal damage, and possession of a bladed article, after being found guilty of all charges following a trial.
Liam Nash, 30, of Hawthorns, Great Ayton, and 29-year-old Simon Nash, of Borrowby Court, Guisborough, were sentenced to two years for their roles in the violent affray and criminal damage, after also being found guilty after trial.
All four were made subject of a ten-year restraining order.
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