A ‘hooligan’ father has been jailed after he and his sons stormed into a McDonald’s branch and knocked its manager unconscious in a dispute about a burger.
Huw Jones, adult sons Sam Jones and Kiayer Jones and son-in-law Thomas Hamilton have been told by a judge they should be ‘wholly ashamed’ of their behaviour.
Swansea Crown Court heard how a brawl broke out at a McDonald’s outlet in Baglan, Wales, last November – leaving its manager bleeding from a head injury.
Hamilton and his sister-in-law came into the fast food restaurant with a complaint about a burger order delivery – before he became angrily confrontational, pushed a manager and hurled punches, the trial was told.
He eventually left while his sister-in-law phoned her father Huw Jones, allegedly describing how Hamilton was being ‘battered’.
Huw Jones, 54, has been jailed for a year for his role in a ‘hooligan’ brawl in a McDonald’s
![A McDonald's branch manager was left unconscious after the 'melee' in Baglan in Wales](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/13/16/87288573-13631105-image-a-15_1720883306704.jpg)
A McDonald’s branch manager was left unconscious after the ‘melee’ in Baglan in Wales
Jones, shirtless, later ‘marched’ into the McDonald’s, shouting and swearing at managers and demanding they go outside to fight him, WalesOnline reported.
He was then joined by Hamilton and Jones’s two sons Sam and Kiayer, who had also received phone calls.
They were said to have rushed behind a counter, smashed a till and tossed around a wet floor warning sign as bags of food waiting collection for delivery.
Jones, 54, was accused of picking up a stool and throwing it at one of the staff managers, hitting him on the head before the victim was then kicked on the floor.
Prosecutors said many young customers in the outlet fled the ‘melee’ in fright – while junior members of staff clambered through windows to escape.
The attackers then fled, driving off, while the McDonald’s branch was closed and the manager slipping in and out of consciousness was taken to hospital.
The cost of the damage to McDonald’s was valued at £5,799, the court was told.
Huw Jones and his two sons, as well as Hamilton, all previously pleaded guilty to affray.
The father also admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and had 12 past convictions for 16 offences including violence, while the other three defendants had no previous convictions.
James Hartson, defence lawyer for Huw Jones, told the court the father ‘reacted poorly to a panicked phone call’ – and then ‘jumped to conclusions about events he didn’t even witness’.
Ian Ibrahim, representing Hamilton, said his client accepted how ‘ridiculous’ the row over a burger would sound – and that the violent response was for some ‘unfathomable reason’.
Recorder Ben Blakemore, sentencing the four offenders, told them they should be ‘wholly ashamed’ for the ‘particularly unpleasant’ incident.
He said: ‘The four of you in a hooligan way went berserk. I reminded myself this was all because of a burger order.’
He sentenced Huw Jones to 12 months in jail, while the other defendants were given 12-month prison terms suspended for 18 months and ordered to complete rehabilitation courses.
Hamilton was told to do 200 hours’ unpaid community work, with 180 each for Sam and Kiayer Jones, and the trio will also have to pay McDonald’s £600 compensation.
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