A Bridgwater man has been jailed for encouraging a boy to punch and kick a schoolmate in a pre-arranged fight.

Samuel Harris stopped other people breaking up the fight and shouted: “Kick him, punch his head in, go on, get him” at one of the boys.

Passers-by in People’s Park in Tiverton, Devon, were so shocked by his actions that they filmed him on their mobile phones and offered the footage to the police when they arrived.

Harris wanted the fight to continue because he believed the boy had suffered bullying and believed the violence was the best way to sort out the issue.

He even headbutted a brave teenager who got past him and tried to pull the two schoolboys apart.

Harris, 33, formerly of Fairfax Road, Bridgwater, and now of Hillcrest, Tiverton, admitted affray and battery and was jailed for a total of two years and two months by Judge Peter Johnson at Exeter Crown Court.

He told him: ”You came across a fight involving a boy and another lad of similar age. Rather than breaking it up, you chose to encourage the boy to continue.

“You shouted ‘kick him, punch his head in, get it’ and the like. The words can be heard on the video clips. Very commendably, a youngster tried to break it up but you grabbed him by the throat and later headbutted him.

“These are serious matters because they involved not only public violence but violence concerning children.”

The judge made an official commendation to the boy who tried to break up the fight and awarded him £100 out of public funds.

The sentence included the partial activation of a suspended sentence from Taunton Crown Court for an incident in which he deliberately rammed another car during a feud between two families in Bridgwater.

Miss Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said the police were called to the fight in People’s Park at 3.30 pm on March 6 this year.

Mobile phone footage showed two children fighting and Harris shouting support for one of the boys.

He had his arms out to keep others away and attacked the other boy when he tried to stop the fight.

He later told police he was angry because someone had called him a pikey but accepted he behaved unacceptably.

Miss Bathsheba Cassel, defending, said Harris had nothing to do with planning the fight but encouraged it to continue because he believed one of the boys had been subjected to bullying, which the authorities had done nothing to stop.

She said he moved from Bridgwater to Tiverton to escape from a feud between families which led to the previous offence and he was trying to stay out of trouble.

He was also under stress because he feared that a type of cancer, which was treated successfully in 2013, had returned.

He now wants to apologise to everyone involved in the incident.


Want more news?



Find your Bath Facebook page   here   or Somerset's can be found   here

Alternatively, follow us on Twitter -   @BathLive   and   @SomersetLive