Gunshots rang out as a land dispute erupted into “wild, lawless mayhem” involving 20 masked men armed with makeshift weapons and a yellow tipper truck which was deployed to ram into vehicles.
Today at Liverpool Crown Court three men faced justice for their roles in the “terrifying spectacle”.
Reuben Price Sr, 49, of Regent Street, Newton-le-Willows, and his sons Reuben Price Jr, 27, of Southworth Road, Newton le Willows, and James Price, 24, of Baguley Avenue, Widnes, had previously all pleaded guilty on December 6 to one count of violent disorder in connection with the incident at the Pony Paddocks on Factory Lane in Widnes on August 3, 2020.
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Andrew Ford, prosecuting, said the feud had begun over adjacent plots of land, with the Price family owning one side and the other owned by George Kent and family.
Mr Kent was planning to develop his plot and work was due to start that day with contractors arriving to deliver 160 tons of hardcore.
The plans had caused “friction”, and in the weeks leading up to trouble erupting, an increasing number of vehicles and caravans had turned up on the Price side.
Mr Kent had also received a “hostile” telephone call from Price Sr and his brother Luke telling him not to build on the land, and on July 31, members of the Kent family had been roadblocked on the outskirts of Ormskirk by a Mercedes containing Price Sr in the back and other men who emerged in vests and told the Kents “you’re not allowed the land” and “you can’t do nothing with it”, before re-entering the car and motoring away.
At around 8am on August 3, police visited the Price plot after learning trouble might be brewing, and officers spoke to about 15 men sitting around a fire.
Price Sr told them “I own the land, if something was going on I would know about it”.
When officers said they’d heard trouble was “looming” and asked about the number of men present, Price Sr said they were there to help with holding horses while their hooves were trimmed, with the land being home to miniature ponies.
The police left, but the apparent calm didn't last long.
A few hours later at 12.35pm, the sight that confronted wagon driver Edward Freeman as he arrived on site to deliver fencing and was “neutral” with no family allegiance, was so frightening that he jumped out of his vehicle and ran away, later commenting the scenes he was “confronted with were quite surreal and terrified me”.
Mr Ford said: “There was a yellow tipper truck being driven backwards at speed from the Price land to the Kent land.”
Following behind the truck were about 20 masked or hooded men armed with “tools, spades, coshes and the like - there were guns amongst them”.
During the chaos that followed, the tipper truck “smashed” into a van before kicking into first or second gear then with a “wheel spin” rammed again.
Another van was also rammed, injuring a man called Mark Ashworth inside.
Mr Freeman heard “shouting, screaming and what he thought were fireworks” - but which were firearms being discharged from among the “large aggressive crowd” and “contained the defendants”.
Witnesses generally described hearing between four and six shots although one person heard “seven bangs”.
The gang was described as being like a “battalion”, with witnesses described seeing “machetes” and “pickaxe handles” among the brandished weapons.
When armed police arrived at the scene, most of the mob had fled.
An investigation discovered ammunition casings on the road at the scene and a “shell”, and a low loader was found to have suffered pellet damage along the side of the vehicle “at head height”.
The three defendants were arrested during the probe and didn’t answer any questions.
They pleaded guilty to violent disorder on the basis they didn’t have possession of any firearm or were aware any would be present during the incident.
Mr Ford said Reuben Price Sr and Jr were of previous good character with no previous convictions and James Price had convictions for theft from three years ago.
Jonathan Duffy, defending Price Sr, said that in the incident in Ormskirk his client had not been making threats but had been shouting at the other men to get back in the car and “leave them”.
He said there was “nothing to suggest he was anything other than a member of the group” in the August 3 incident and there was “no evidence he instigated this or was the ringleader”, adding his family had “spoken extremely highly about him” and his “conduct was entirely out of character”.
He said the incident was 18 months ago with no trouble since and had effectively served 10 or 11 months on remand and on curfew.
Andrew Alty, defending Reuben Price Jr, said there was no evidence he had been involved in the earlier incidents, and had the “misfortune” of being at the Pony Paddocks on August 3, when he felt he “had to go along” and had nothing to do with firearms.
His client also had a “brilliant” marriage and two young children.
Brendan O’Leary, appearing for James Price, made similar representations adding his client had shown “genuine remorse” and realised they were “lucky” that “nobody ended up injured”.
He said James Price had not been present when the police called at the site in the morning or involved in earlier incidents and later on August 3 “felt an obligation to be there, in his words, ‘to show his face’”.
James Price also maintained he didn’t know firearms were to be used.
Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said the group were part of an armed “mob”.
He sentenced Reuben Price Sr to three years in prison, and Reuben Price Jr and James Price each to two years and five months.
The amount of time the group has to spend in custody will be reduced according to how much time on remand and “qualifying curfew” they have served: by 277 days for Price Sr and Price Jr and 271 days for James Price.
Judge Trevor-Jones also made them subject to restraining orders to keep them away from the Kent family to last seven years.
He said the dispute arose over Mr Kent’s plans to develop his land, which had “upset” and “agitated” the Prices.
The judge said he “remained true” to the bases of plea that none of the three Prices in the dock possessed or discharged any firearm.
He cast doubt on Price Sr’s claim not to have played a leading role, saying he “found it revealing” that Price Sr spoke for the group when officers visited the site in the morning and was the “effective patriarch”, adding there must have been planning.
Sending them down, Judge Trevor-Jones said: “There was quite clearly significant planning.
“As far as this was concerned, this was no spontaneous eruption of violence.
“The scenes were of wild, lawless mayhem, witnessed by several independent people and they described a terrifying spectacle.”
Following their sentencing, Detective Sergeant Henderson Pierre, of Widnes Local Policing Unit, part of Cheshire Police, said: “Firstly, I would like to thank the local community for all the help and support that they have provided throughout this investigation, without their assistance today’s result would not have been possible.
“It is clear that the Price family believed that they were above the law, they decided to take matters into their own hands and went round mob-handed to their neighbours with the intent of causing fear and harm.
“It was only pure luck that nobody was killed or seriously injured.
“Through what has been an extremely complex investigation, the team of detectives here at Widnes have been able to gather a catalogue of evidence against the Price family, and the trio were left with no option but to plead guilty to the charges against them.
“I hope that the conclusion of this case and the sentences handed to the Price family will provide reassurance to both the victims and the local community.”
In a statement issued after the hearing, Cheshire Police said a long-barrelled gun was seized in connection with the investigation.
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