A man armed himself with a pipe from a vacuum cleaner to join in a street fight with a rival gang where machetes were being brandished. Dawen Dilshad, 27, burst into the brawl with the cleaning implement while his friends were armed with swords, bats and knives.
The scrap took place on Bishop Street, in Middlesbrough, in the early hours of July 1, 2022, when Dilshad's friend Diar Mohammed challenged the rival group to meet for a fight via Snapchat, a court heard.
It was said at Teesside Crown Court that no one turned up at the location but that members of the opposing gang arrived at Mohammed's door the following day, reports TeessideLive.
Timothy Jacobs, prosecuting, told the court that only Mohammed was injured during the brawl, with a cut on his arm, and a wound to his side. Police identified other members of the group from CCTV footage covering parts of the street.
Mr Jacobs said that Dilshad "aligned" himself with the behaviour of his friends, who had machetes and bats. Dilshad's barrister, Tabitha Buck, said that he wasn't violent to anybody and that he had had "an issue" with drugs at the time of the fight. She said: "He acted out of stupidity and out of fear; he armed himself with a hoover pipe when going into a crowd armed with machetes. It shows naivety and stupidity."
Ms Buck added that her client has since completed a telecom engineering qualifications and has applied for jobs in that field in London. She told Teesside Crown Court: "He lives with his mum and dad but he pays rent. He has contact with his four-year-old daughter every other day."
Judge Howard Crowson told Dilshad that he was impressed by the fact that he has since completed qualifications and has the prospect of work. He said: "You were in a house visited by a group who were intent on fighting. You emerged with a piece of hoover pipe, but you didn't hit anyone with it."
Dilshad admitted affray and was handed a 12-month community order, with a 30-rehabilitation day requirement.
Diar Mohammed, 30, was jailed for 11 months; Hawdang Tofiq, 28, was also jailed for 11 months. Omed Abdullah was jailed for 10 months and Chernair Hussain, 19, was given 150 hours of unpaid work, at an earlier hearing.
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