An exasperated judge told the twin thugs why he couldn't jail them over a bowling alley machete as he sentenced their family in ITV morning show style. Judge Richard Bond said their ages were at the time and the fact it happened three years ago had saved them from prison.
But he said unemployed couple Jason and Mark Joyce - who caused terror with a motiveless attack as a family celebrated a birthday - would both have to work and he hoped he would "never see them on a night out". And he did not spare their family, who disrupted proceedings from the public gallery at Birmingham Crown Court.
The judge threatened to kick them out unless they calmed down and condemned their behavior. He told them: "This is a public court, you have a right to be here. It's not a TV show on ITV in the morning where the public thinks they can join in. You don't have that in a public court ."
Read the original court story hereHe then reprimanded someone for a phone glitch, adding, "Those are the rules. It's my court, not yours. If any of you say anything else, you're out. It really is that simple."
Despite the warning, one man could not contain himself and shouted: "If that's not self-defense for me, I don't know what is, I give up," before storming out of the courtroom. The judge said delays in proceedings had 'saved' the brothers from immediate prison.
And he said the court should sentence them as if they were still 17 because of their age at the time of the crime. The judge told the court: "I would do everything I can to take them into custody, I really would, but it seems the guidelines are against that."
When he learned that they were both unemployed, dependent on benefits and illiterate because they had stopped going to school, he continued: "I have children their age. They are going to university. Aren't they lucky? But, and It's a big but, While my children are at university working in cafes and bars, in the service industry, which doesn't require them to read and write."
The judge wondered why the two couldn't find work, asking: "Why can't these men get a job? There are a lot of different jobs available in the service sector, really."
The brothers, now aged 20 and from Victoria Road in Handsworth, admitted unlawful wounding, while Jason also pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and making threats with a bladed article.
The twins were given 18 months; detention, suspended for two years, on Thursday, May 16. The pair, both claiming Universal Credit, were also ordered to complete 175 hours of unpaid work and attend 40 days of rehabilitation activities
Mark Joyce was ordered to pay £750 in compensation, while Jason was told to pay £1,500. They were convicted after wreaking havoc at a family birthday party at the Hollywood Bowl after accusing their innocent victims of 'staring' at them.
During a verbal altercation at the pool tables on the Rubery property, Jason Joyce threw a punch and brandished a machete. Mark Joyce tried to hit someone with a pool cue but was wrestled to the ground. Both then threw glasses, hitting one man in the face, causing long-term damage and forcing him to quit his £60,000-a-year job.
CCTV footage captured the chaos that broke out at around 11:30 pm on October 30, 2021, when a family celebrating a 30th birthday became the focus of the brothers' aggression. Simon Phillips, prosecuting, said the defendants turned 'their attention' to the family when the bar announced closing time, with Mark challenging them by asking 'what are you staring at?
The family made it clear that they "didn't want any trouble," but Jason threw an unprovoked punch at one of the men. The victim's father intervened to pull Jason away from his son, leading to a fight. Mark Joyce tried to swing a pool cue, and after leaving for a moment, Jason returned brandishing a machete.
"It's almost a miracle that no one was injured by the knife," Phillips said. Both brothers threw punches and kicks and then began throwing glasses from the bar, hitting one family member in the face.
The court heard the Joyces appeared to be laughing as they left the scene. Judge Bond ordered photos of the victims' injuries to be shown on the court screens so the brothers "can see what they did." The younger victim showed a swollen face and black eyes due to a fractured eye socket and cheekbone.
His father, who suffered a glass blow to the face, had clear cuts and still suffers from vision problems. He said in a statement that he had to quit his £60,000-a-year job, lost his self-confidence and found the situation 'extremely annoying and upsetting'.
Counsel for the two brothers submitted written pleadings to the court, but Judge Bond made it clear that neither was necessary for personal mitigation as he could not directly detain the twins without proper justification. He expressed his disapproval, saying: "I am deeply disgusted by the behavior of these two defendants."
He continued: 'The fact that one of them sees fit to go out in public with a machete and then bring it out drunk.' Despite their limited Universal Credit income of £430 a month, Judge Bond insisted they should pay 'proper compensation'. '
As he handed down the sentence, he told them: "That family was unfortunate enough to attend the Hollywood Bowl in Rubery. I say misfortune because you two drunken louts, which is exactly what you were, attacked them and injured them.
"You are the kind of young men that any decent person would be afraid to meet on a night out because you will cause misery and upset. This phrase is often said by young men trying to demonstrate that they are the 'big me' ; 'what are you staring at?' ?
"As soon as you hear those words, everyone knows there's going to be trouble, boy, there was trouble tonight. You caused this confrontation, despite what your family members may think. I blame you two one hundred percent."
The judge also condemned their actions for instilling fear in "middle-aged women" who were said to have been "terrified" by the violence. But he continued: 'As tempting as it is for me to impose immediate custodial sentences, I cannot.
"I took an oath to do well what the law tells me to do and that is what I will do. I must follow the sentencing guidelines, not only for the specific offenses but also for the sentencing of children and young people."
At first the brothers stood with their arms crossed, but later they resorted to prayer gestures. Judge Bond said they would have imposed prison sentences of two years and eight months had they been treated as adults, after taking into account the creditworthiness of their guilty pleas.
And he told them that any breach of their suspended sentences would come back on him, adding: 'I hope I never see you again. Not just in court, I hope I never see you on a night out. You're every decent human being's worst nightmare. "
