Pair who took part in "drink fuelled violence" sentenced in Royal Court

Saturday 26 January 2019

Two men in their 20s appeared in the Royal Court yesterday facing a charge of affray after they fought each other in town in what was described in a "very violent exchange," which culminated in one of the men striking the other with a plastic traffic sign pole.

James Barry L’Enfant (24) and Paul David William Le Geyt (27) were charged with affray, but Le Geyt also faced a charge of grave and criminal assault.

It was alleged that on 5 October 2018, L’Enfant was in town with a man and a woman when Le Geyt approached the man, acting “really aggressively” and swearing, at around 22:30. Le Geyt, L’Enfant and the other man then walked across the Royal Square and scuffled along the way.

The Court heard that they then ran towards Library Place where a concerned member of the public started filming. The man described the affray as “the most violent attack” he had ever seen, saying that “it sounded like someone’s head was going to split open.”

Pictured: A member of the public filmed L'Enfant and Le Geyt as they thought in Library Place.

In the video, L’Enfant and Le Geyt are seen pushing and grabbing each other. At one point, Le Geyt aimed a kick at L’Enfant and the pair fell to the floor. L’Enfant ended up on top of Le Geyt, who was holding him around the neck with both arms, preventing him from getting up. While straddling Le Geyt, L’Enfant punched him to the upper body and head several times.

L’Enfant then got up and walked down Mulcaster Street with his friends towards the Weighbridge. Le Geyt was seen on CCTV coming around Mulcaster Street holding a plastic traffic sign pole.  He then ran towards the trio, raised the pole over his shoulder and struck L’Enfant to the upper body from behind.

L’Enfant alerted a police officer who was nearby, saying he had been assaulted. As Le Geyt was walking back towards L’Enfant, the officer attempted to stop him. He grabbed both his wrists and cautioned him for grave and criminal assault. 

Pictured: Le Geyt ran from a police officer and hid in the hedges on the Weighbridge.

Le Geyt then pulled away and ran towards the tunnel before hiding in the hedges at the Weighbridge where he was eventually located. The officers who arrested him said he seemed heavily intoxicated. 

L’Enfant was also arrested but did not appear “intoxicated to any significant degree” the court heard. The Court heard that luckily L’Enfant suffered no injuries during the assault and was only left with bruises and abrasions.

Crown Advocate Richard Pedley said the fact that both men had been fuelled by alcohol, which was an aggravating feature. He noted both men had criminal records including previous offences of violence.

Advocate Julian Gollop, who was defending L’Enfant, urged the Court to impose a community service order, which would give him a “more immediate way of paying his debt to the community.”

Pictured: Both L'Enfant and Le Geyt wrote to the Court to apologise for the fight.

Both men submitted letters of remorse to the court, which the Deputy Bailiff, Tim Le Cocq, said they had accepted as genuine.

He noted that Le Geyt’s letter, which his lawyer Advocate Ian Jones, presented to Court, showed a “very good sign for the future” due to his intentions to review his life.

The Court followed the Crown’s recommendations for L’Enfant and suspended his 12-month sentence for two years. As for Le Geyt, they reduced the suggested 18-month sentence to 15 months as “a modest encouragement to show we accept you are seriously reviewing your life.”