Samantha Gabriel, a single mother to seven children, admitted affray but was discharged for 12 months after a court heard she was ‘reliant’ on benefits
A violent family so infamous that they have their own meme and logo have walked free from court after two men were glassed in a pub brawl.
Samantha Gabriel, 37, and her brothers Shane, 29, and Gavin, 28, were arrested after getting involved in a fight between two drunks at the Nags Head pub in Accrington, Lancashire.
However Samantha, a mother-of-seven, was spared jail after a court heard she is ‘reliant’ on benefits, while her two siblings also avoided jail despite a string of convictions for violent behaviour.
The Gabriel family rose to notoriety in 2004 after they were evicted from their council home ‘palace’ in Padiham, near Burnley, Lancs.
Investigators found it decked out with a swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi, plus a four-poster water bed and a £3,000 42-inch plasma screen TV.
When police raided the property they found £10,000 in £20 notes under the mattress of the water bed plus electrical goods, DVD machines, video recorders, the home cinema system and numerous CDs.
It was claimed they inflicted ’21 years of anti-social behaviour’ on neighbours and even created their own family logo: ‘Its a Gabriel thing – you wouldn’t understand’.
Family matriarch Janis Gabriel, then 49, and herself a mother of seven living on state benefits with her late husband John, was later jailed for six months after police said the luxuries were financed by crime – but she was cleared on appeal.
At the time, housing officials claimed members of the Gabriel family had threatened to blow up neighbours homes and made threats to kill them.
Shane (left) and Gavin (right) were arrested after getting involved in a fight between two drunks at the Nags Head Pub in Accrington
It was claimed they inflicted ’21 years of anti-social behaviour’ on neighbours and even created their own family logo: ‘Its a Gabriel thing – you wouldn’t understand’
They later abandoned the house after dismantling all of the fittings, including the toilet, bath and shower, causing damages of £12,000.
Gavin and Shane – who lived at the property with their parents – subsequently clocked up a string of convictions for violence.
The family designed its own logo: ‘Its a Gabriel thing – you wouldn’t understand’ based on the novelty clothing range – and posted it on their Facebook pages.
At Burnley Crown Court, Shane was given a community order for 12 months and Gavin received three months jail suspended for six months.
One victim had cuts to his head and the other suffered cuts to his forehead and the top of his head. Both men admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Samantha, who has seven children aged between 10 and 18 from different fathers, admitted affray but was conditionally discharged for 12 months after a court heard she was ‘reliant’ on benefits.
The fight occurred in the Nags Head Pub in Accrington on March 22 2016 after a local drunk known only as Joe made offensive remarks to another regular in the pub.
A court heard that Samantha (pictured) had not worked for 10 years and was reliant on benefits
This self-styled family logo was shared by the Gabriels on their social media pages, including Facebook
Janis Gabriel, then 49, a mother-of-seven living on state benefits with her late husband John was later jailed for six months in 2004 after police said their luxuries were financed by crime – but she was cleared on appeal
Another patron intervened but the drunk fell into a fruit machine – causing the fight to spread through the bar. Gavin was seen to hit one of the injured victims up to three times in the brawl.
The court heard Gavin had four violence convictions whilst Shane has 15 offences on his record including a weapons charge and assault. Last year Shane was jailed for 10 months for dangerous driving following a police pursuit.
Defending fork lift truck driver Shane, Brendan O’Leary said: ‘He lost his work through injury, found himself unable to work, his father passed away and he took to drink and drugs, particularly crack cocaine.
‘I’m told by his family he now presents physically as a much healthier person. He’s determined, upon release that he hopes is in the near future, to go back to employment. But last week he had a dream about crack cocaine and it scared him.’
For Gavin, Mark Stuart, said: ‘He has been out of trouble since this incident. He should have kept out of the fracas but he went to assist his brother.’
A probation report for Samantha said: ‘She is a single mum to seven children who range from 18 to 10.
The court heard that Shane (pictured) has not worked since losing his job due to a foot injury, and had fallen into a life of grief following the loss of his father and drug abuse
Last year Shane (pictured) was jailed for 10 months for dangerous driving following a police pursuit
Samantha Gabriel (shown) admitted affray for her part in the mass brawl at a pub in Accrington
‘The two oldest are 18 and 17 and are independent, they don’t live with her. Then the others 16 to 10 live at home and are all at school.
‘The teenagers are giving her a bit of trouble but she’s coping. The fathers are not really on the scene but have never been hands on even though there is contact.
‘She has worked on and off but hasn’t worked the last ten years. One of her children suffers from ADHD but that’s stopped. She wants to get into the caring profession. She’s reliant on benefits.’
Sentencing Judge Beverley Lunt described the family’s behaviour during the fight as ‘madness and completely stupid’ and told the two brothers: ‘There was no reason for you to get involved in this. Neither of you started it, why you got involved in it is beyond belief.’
Janis’ trial in 2004 was told she and her disabled husband and their family were receiving £2,000 a month in benefits but paid no council tax or rent on their three bedroom semi-detached home.
The Gabriel family (pictured is Samantha) rose to notoriety in 2004 after they were evicted from their council home in Padiham, near Burnley, Lancs
Gavin Gabriel (shown) was seen to hit one of the injured victims up to three times in the brawl
The court was given a ‘guided tour’ of the house by video taken by police when they raided the property last year.
A four-poster water bed was provided for the master bedroom, with a Jacuzzi and bidet in the ornately tiled bathroom. The living room was equipped with a plasma TV, a large mahogany fireplace, chandelier and leather suite. As well as having a new kitchen fitted, the couple’s conservatory had a heated indoor swimming pool and sauna.
The family also owned two cars, a motor scooter, a number of bicycles, several mobile phones, various camcorders, DVD players, stereos and televisions, and had boxes full of expensive electrical items. The entire property was monitored by a CCTV security system and of the Gabriel’s four bank accounts showed Janis had paid in £4,000 over five months.
Janis claimed her husband was a ‘penny-pincher’ and said she got the money playing bingo and fruit machines but was found guilty of possessing criminal property.
She was cleared in 2006 after an appeal court ruled the trial judge’s summing up was ‘flawed.’ Father of seven Mr Gabriel – known as Gabby – died aged 63 in 2013.