Kids cower behind their parents as thugs club each other with shop dummies and clothes rails in shocking JD Sports brawl
THIS is the moment kids were seen cowering in fright behind their parents as thugs club each other with shop dummies in a Manchester branch of JD Sports.
The shocking CCTV footage shows the horrific brawl where three men hurl clothing rails across the store and whack each other with mannequin arms.
Cain Gordon, 20, Levi Murray, 19, and another man were all identified as being involved in the attack and have now been sentenced.
Gordon was seen to throw the furniture rack and pick up and throw a mannequin, with the third defendant pulling the arm of a mannequin to use as a club.
The defendant swung it at one of the other group, who had armed himself in a similar manner.
Their co-defendant appeared to throw a bottle of water on another two men, before one victim picked up a furniture pole which he brandished at Murray.
Murray swung a baton directly towards a man in the store, before turning his attention to another man who used a rack of clothes to defend himself.
Murray was then seen brandishing the retractable baton.
Several customers had to take refuge at the back of the store, Manchester Crown Court heard.
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In a written statement, the floor manager at JD Sports said: “This was the first Saturday opening since Covid.
“We were extremely busy and the store had lots of children in with their parents, many of these ran away from the fight, hiding behind their parents.
“At one point, a father is holding an approximate one-year-old daughter in his hands, as one of the victims brushes past him, attempting to move away from the attack.
“As much as I’ve seen fights in the past, this incident has left me shook up.
“It makes me worry about my staff and customers as its not something they should be seeing.”
About £4,100 worth of damage was caused by the incident.
Sentencing at Manchester Crown Court, Judge Suzanne Goddard QC said: “How unpleasant it must have been for these children and their parents to witness the yobbish behaviour you were involved in.
“There were children there who were clearly very scared at what was happening.
“Serious fear and distress was caused to these people in the shop.”
Gordon, of Crumpsall, was jailed for 22-and-a-half months after pleading guilty to criminal damage, possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and affray.
Murray, of Salford, was jailed for 20 months for the same offences.
Another man who admitted affray, received a 26 month community order.