A group of upwards of four youths and young men took part in a group assault on a lone male in a late-night attack in which a knife appeared to have been used.

Four defendants, two of them aged under 18 and so unable to be publicly identified, appeared at Durham Crown Court to answer for a charge of affray arising from the incident in Peterlee in the early hours of Bank Holiday Monday, August 30, 20221.

David Maughan, now 21, of Front Street East, Wingate, and 20-year-old Tom Beeston, of Emerson Square, Thornley, plus youths now aged 17 and 16, admitted the charge by June this year, in proceedings which began at the crown court in March.

Mr Towers said the defendants were originally facing a joint charge of wounding with intent, due to knife wounds sustained by the victim.

The Northern Echo: Tom Beeston was one of four youths and young men involved in late night affray in Peterlee town

But he said following prolonged examination of cctv of the incident it was not possible to discern a knife and, as a result, the Crown was left to accept the guilty pleas to affray.

Mr Towers said each of the defendants denied having a knife during the incident.

“The Crown can’t accept that no-one had a knife, but, clearly, one of them did.

“The Crown did not request a Newton hearing (trial of issue) because it was not possible to be sure who did have a knife.”

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Mr Towers said the incident arose after midnight when the victim and a friend, who had been out in Peterlee, left a bar to go to a cash machine, when there was “an acrimonious exchange” with Maughan.

It culminated in Maughan trying to swing a belt from his jeans at one of the pair and Rochester chased him away.

Maughan claimed he was then assaulted by the other man, but Mr Towers said the Crown could not accept that, although it did accept that he had been chased aggressively.

Some time after that exchange the man who had chased Maughan was approached by a large group, which he estimated was eight strong.

He tried to push them away but suffered a punch to the right side of the face and he went to the ground.

Mr Towers said the victim described at least two of the group reaching into their jackets to pull out a flick or craft knife, said to be 3 to 4in-long.

He said that at this point he feared he would be killed and felt a gash to the head, so presumed he had been cut, while he felt a few more slashes to the body, before he was able to run away.

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Mr Towers outlined the medical evidence of a doctor which said the victim suffered four lacerations, all relatively superficial, to his left forearm, behind the left shoulder, to the left side of the torso and to the right upper arm.

None of the lacerations went down to the muscle, nerves or tendons.

But there was also a wound to the head.

Mr Towers said the incident appeared to have been broken up by the intervention of the victim’s friend, who he had been separated from since he chased Maughan earlier.

He said he came across the scuffle and did not realise it was his friend involved, but when he did, he used words along the lines: “Eight lads against one. What’s that all about?”

Mr Towers said the attack did seem to desist at this point.

The victim was left bleeding heavily from the face and bicep.

At a bus stop his friend was able to flag down a police car and pointed out some of the defendants.

Some were arrested at the scene and the other two were identified by other means.

Maughan was picked out during the identity procedure and Beeston was recognised on CCTV by a police officer.

In his impact statement, the victim said he was left self-conscious of his scars and had problems sleeping, suffering regular panic attacks.

He said he did genuinely feel he would die, but he said he felt unable to speak to a counsellor.

As a result, he had drunk excessively at home and stopped going out socially.

He also said he was left feeling angry all of the time and frustrated that as a trained boxer he always felt able to handle himself, but when there was a knife present, “that takes all of that away”.

Rebecca Brown, for Maughan, said he was 19 at the time of the incident and has no previous convictions.

Daniel Ingham, for Beeston, said he had only just tuned 18 at the time of the incident and offered his guilty plea to affray several weeks before the scheduled trial.

The court heard he also faced offences of burglary, car theft and dangerous driving, all committed earlier this year, 18 months after the affray, for which he has remained in custody since February.

Judge James Adkin described the affray as, “a serious matter”, involving at least, “four onto one”, in which someone, unknown, appeared to have used a knife.

He said Beeston would have received a 16-month sentence had the affray matter been all he was facing.

But, given his other offending he imposed a total custodial sentence of 50 months.

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Maughan, who was said to have learning difficulties, received a 16-month sentence, suspended for two years, with a four-month 7pm to 7am home curfew, and 20 days rehabilitation activity with the Probation Service.

One of the younger defendants, now aged 16, received a two-year youth rehabilitation order, with a four-month 7pm to 7am home curfew.

The 17-year-old received an intensive referral order for 12 months.