The sentencing of 11 football fans, who admitted to affray following a brawl outside two Cheltenham pubs, has been postponed once again. This delay means that they won’t face justice until over three years after the incident. The altercation erupted between supporters of Cheltenham Town and Bristol Rovers approximately an hour before their League One match on October 15, 2022, which Rovers ultimately won 4-1.
The street fight occurred around 2 pm in the town centre, outside the Wetherspoons pub Moon Under Water and the neighboring The Miller on Bath Road. Police confirmed in October 2023 that 15 fans had been arrested, charged, and appeared before Cheltenham magistrates in relation to the incident from the previous year.
However, the sentencing is yet to take place. Of the 11 who pleaded guilty, ten were Cheltenham Town fans, and one was a Bristol Rovers supporter. The sentencing of the 11 had to wait for the cases against the other four to be dealt with, and finally the 11 who had originally pleaded guilty were scheduled to attend a sentencing hearing at Bristol Crown Court on April 2 and 3 this year.
Unfortunately, a trial in the same court on that day overran, and the day before the start of the two-day sentencing hearing, the 11 were informed that the court could not deal with their cases, resulting in the hearing being postponed.
A new date has been set for the sentencing hearing - October 20 and 23 this year, approximately three years and a week after the original incident. Out of the 11 awaiting sentencing, ten are Cheltenham Town fans, and one is a Bristol Rovers fan.
In October 2023, the ten Cheltenham Town fans waiting for sentencing were listed as: James Bennett, then aged 20 from Parton Road in Churchdown; James Groom, aged 23 from Harvester View in Bishop’s Cleeve; Samuel Morgan-Phelps, then 23 from Severn Road in Cheltenham; Daniel Hicks, aged 20 from Brooklyn Gardens in Cheltenham; Harry Locke, aged 22 from Cromwell Road in Cheltenham; George Parsons, 21 from Severn Road in Cheltenham; Macauley Parsons, 28 from Bouncers Lane in Cheltenham; Mason Tea, a 21-year-old from Marsh Gardens in Cheltenham; Adam Upton, aged 23 from Grenadier Road in Cheltenham; Kieran Watts, aged 20 from Townsend Street in Cheltenham, and the Bristol Rovers fan Luke Wilson, 26 from Acacia Road in Staple Hill, Bristol.