West’s Centre affray trio escape jail term

West’s Centre affray trio escape jail term

All three were ordered to complete community service for their part in the fight ‘which involved punching and kicking’ and was witnessed by a crowd of onlookers in the early hours of 27 January.

The longest sentence of 160 hours, the equivalent of ten months in custody, was given to the man who started the fight, father-of-two Jose Fabio Nunes Cardoso (32), of Val Plaisant.

Cardoso also admitted a charge of supplying the class A drug ecstasy and the Magistrate’s Court was told at a previous hearing that the fight broke out over a £10 drug debt that had apparently not been paid to Cardoso by co-accused Miguel Diogo Silva Gama (21), of Cannon Street. The court heard that Cardoso sustained the worst injuries as he was knocked unconscious during the affray and spent the night in hospital.

Gama was sentenced to 120 hours, which is equivalent to six months’ jail, and Stephen Wolfgang Rodrigues (26), of Rouge Bouillon, was given 140 hours, the equivalent of eight months’ jail.

Relief Magistrate Sarah Fitz said that the court would normally impose a custodial sentence for affray but she was able to avoid doing so as all three had never been in court for violence before and they were otherwise hard-working men with a low risk of reconviction. She added that she would also not move for deportation orders to be imposed for similar reasons.

They had all admitted their involvement at a previous hearing and Cardoso had admitted supplying drugs in December 2017.

Advocate Francesca Pinel, defending Gama, said that her client had no history of violence and his references and the background report were highly complimentary.

Advocate Lorraine McClure, representing Rodrigues, said her client accepted the level of violence involved was excessive. However, she said that he was not the aggressor and was very sorry for any injury caused to Cardoso.

Advocate Luke Sette, for Cardoso, said that his client regretted his loss of control and was ashamed of his actions. He said that Cardoso would never have acted in such a way if he had not had been drinking that night. She said that Cardoso had not been out in town at night time since the incident in January and now spent his evenings with his partner and their young child. ‘He does acknowledge that he started the incident and that he continued it,’ said the lawyer.

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