A YOUNG Leamington man who brandished two guns as he chased youths in a nearby village has been jailed.
Ryan Coulson pleaded guilty to violent disorder and possessing an imitation firearm during the violent clash in Long Itchington.
Coulson (22) of Craig Close, Leamington, who also admitted possessing a knife during a further confrontation in the village, was jailed for 20 months on top of an eight-year sentence he is already serving for wounding, after smashing a glass into someone’s face, and burglary.
With him in the dock was Mason Phelps (24) of Spencer Street, Leamington, who pleaded guilty to possessing a knife during the second incident.
Phelps, who has since moved to Erdington, Birmingham, was given a 15-month, sentence suspended for two years. and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.
The incident took place in June 2018 as a group of teenagers were playing football in Green End Park in the village.
One of them had been expecting trouble over a drug debt, and was ‘full of bravado’ and armed with a knuckleduster, but then 15 or 16 men arrived in separate cars and ran towards them, shouting threats.
As the group scattered, Coulson began to pursue that teenager, brandishing two handguns according to another of the group, but he got away.
Mr Tucker said the guns have not been recovered, so have been charged as imitation firearms.
Coulson returned to the group, one of who had a machete which he threatened to use if the others did not tell them where to find the person he had been chasing.
Coulon’s group went to leave but got out his car when he saw the teenagers had gathered again, threatening them with a lock knife. Phelps joined him, also with a knife.
After they drove off, the friends went to a nearby pub and reported what had happened.
Coulson was arrested and the knife seized, while at Phelps’s home police found a BB gun, a small samurai sword and an extendable baton.
But, when they were interviewed, both men denied being involved and put forward false alibis.
Dean Easthope, for Coulson, pointed out the incident had taken place before the burglary and wounding offences for which he has since been jailed – but he was not charged until last year.
Mr Easthope said all the offences took place after Coulson’s grandmother had died and he began dabbling in drugs before he began to get into trouble.
But since being jailed he has turned his life around and is described as a model prisoner.
Fabienne Macey, for Phelps, said apart from a driving matter he had not been in trouble in the three years since the incident.
He has moved away from the area and his associates, found stable accommodation and is hard-working in his job as a machine operator while training as a forklift driver, she added.
Sentencing them, Judge Lockhart said: “It was a planned outing. Everyone knew there was going to be trouble in the air, and you went armed, and you Mr Coulson ran towards them with weapons and they were subjected to threats.
“They made good their escape from that terrifying incident and you left the scene, but ten minutes later you are still looking for them and pull up next to their group.
“You got out of the car Mr Coulson and pulled a knife, and you Mr Phelps also produced a knife during that incident.”
The judge explained that Coulson’s sentence was based on what the overall sentence would have been if he had been dealt with at the same time as he was jailed for the wounding, adding Phelps had ‘a good prospect of rehabilitation.’
