by A McDonald’s manager was sacked after a family ‘went wild’ during a fight over a burger, a court has heard.
Fists, trays, stools and bags of food flew around the restaurant after the Jones family ‘stormed’ the takeaway. Some junior staff had to escape through the drive-thru window.
A judge at Swansea Crown Court told Huw Jones, his sons Sam Jones and Kiayer Jones, and son-in-law Thomas Hamilton that they had acted like “bullies”. He said the quartet should be “absolutely ashamed” of their behaviour.
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Tom Scapens, prosecuting, said the incident happened on the evening of Saturday, November 4 last year at McDonald’s in Baglan, South Wales, when the restaurant was busy with customers, including many children. He said the incident began when Thomas Hamilton and his sister-in-law attended the restaurant to complain about a burger order that had been delivered.
The court heard that Hamilton was angry and confrontational, and when his sister-in-law tried to calm him down he pushed her aside. Hamilton was asked to leave but pushed a manager and threw punches and then a violent scuffle ensued with two managers tackling the defender and trying to eject him. Hamilton eventually left and his sister-in-law called her father – Huw Jones – and said Hamilton was being “beaten up”.
The court heard that a short time later Jones arrived shirtless in his van and “marched” inside. He then started shouting and swearing at the managers, threatening them, and demanding they go out and fight. This continued for several minutes before he returned to the car park where he joined Hamilton and his two sons Sam and Kiayer who were also phoned to the burger joint.
The court heard that the four men then ran into McDonald’s and stormed behind the counter, smashing a till and screen and throwing around metal trays, a wet floor warning sign, and bags of food waiting to be collected by delivery. Huw Jones then picked up a stool with a heavy metal leg and base and threw it at one of the managers. The stool hit its target on the head and the manager went to the floor where he was kicked several times, although it is not known which defender or defenders. The prosecutor said when this “melee” was happening, young people in the restaurant fled in fear, and some junior staff members hid and others went out through the drive-thru window of the building.
Finally the brawlers ran out of the restaurant, jumped back into their vehicles, and drove off. The restaurant was closed and the injured manager, who was left dazed and slipping in and out of consciousness and bleeding from a head wound, was taken to hospital. The court heard that the incident cost McDonald’s, including damage caused and the temporary closure of the business, £5,799.
Huw Jones, 54, of Wharf Road, Briton Ferry, Thomas Hamilton, 20, of Windsor Road, Chester, Sam Jones, 25, of Lilian Street, Port Talbot, and Kiayer Jones, aged 27, of Giants Wharf, had everything Britton Ferry. They had previously pleaded guilty in an affray when they appeared in the dock for sentencing. Huw Jones also pleaded guilty to assault occasioning grievous bodily harm. He has 12 previous convictions for 16 offenses including matters of violence that are “of long standing”. None of the other defendants have any previous convictions.
James Hartson, for Huw Jones, said the defendant “reacted badly to a panicked phone call” and had “jumped to conclusions about events he hadn’t even seen”. He said Jones had been involved in a local boxing gym for many years as a “good cause” in the community, and that he was mortified and remorseful for his actions. He added that the defendant had visited his late wife’s grave on the day in question, and said Jones’ anxiety and depression had been exacerbated by the loss of his partner of more than 30 years about six months earlier.
Ian Ibrahim, for Hamilton, said it was accepted that the incident was caused by a complaint about a burger and that the defendant realized how “ridiculous” it was now. He said the complainant became violent for “a reason that made no sense” and that he assumed his client was the “catalyst” for what unfolded. He said the defendant was one of 13 siblings of parents from Cheshire who married into the Briton Ferry family 10 months ago. The barrister also said that Hamilton had left school at the age of 11 and could not read or write, and when he asked the defendant if he had written a letter to the judge he was told with him that he would if he could.
David Singh, for Sam Jones, said his client was at his sister’s house when he got the call that his brother-in-law had been “hit” and decided to drive to McDonald’s with his brother Kiayer. He said when the pair arrived they saw their father Huw “Pappy” Jones shirtless in the car park and “mistakenly believed” something had happened. The barrister said his client has young children and runs a successful roofing business, and that he “deeply regrets” his involvement in the conviction. Ryan Bowen, for Kiayer Jones, said he accepted there was no excuse for his behavior on the day in question. He said the defendant was a father of five with a sixth child due in December and was ashamed of his actions at McDonald’s.
Recorder Ben Blakemore told the four defendants they should be “absolutely ashamed” of their involvement in what he called a “particularly unpleasant” incident. He said Hamilton, who was “looking for an argument” with the shop manager, had started things off before Huw Jones “stormed” being “abusive, abusive, aggressive and confrontational” with the intention of fighting. He said that the two Jones boys were then “eagerly in” and four men rushed the counter throwing things and punches. The recorder said: “The four of you got up in hooligan fashion. I reminded myself that this was all about ordering a burger.”
With a one-third discount on his guilty pleas, Huw Jones was sentenced to 12 months in prison – he will serve up to half of that sentence in custody before being released on license to serve the rest in the community. With a third of their guilty plea discounts, the other defendants were sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for 18 months and ordered to complete rehabilitation courses and abide by electronically monitored night curfews for the next four months.
They were also ordered to carry out unpaid work in the community – 200 hours for Hamilton and 180 hours each for the Joneses. Each of the three defendants who received a suspended sentence will also have to pay £600 in compensation to McDonald’s. Recorder Blakemore told the three that they were very close to following their father into prison and warned them that if they breached their suspended sentence and did not take the opportunity the court had given them they would follow on him.
