Judge tells why he can't jail Hollywood Bowl rampage twins as he condemns 'ITV' family

An exasperated judge told twin thugs why he could not jail them over a bowling alley machete rampage as he condemned their "ITV morning show"-style family. Judge Richard Bond said their ages at the time and the fact it happened three years ago had saved them from prison.

But he said jobless pair Jason and Mark Joyce - who sparked terror with a motiveless attack involving a family out celebrating a birthday - should both be working and he hoped he "never saw 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 quietened down and condemned their behaviour. He told them: "This is a public court, you are entitled to be here. It is not a TV show on ITV in the morning where the public think they can join in. You don't in a public court."

Read the original court story here

He then reprimanded an individual for a phone disturbance, adding: "Those are the rules. It is my court not yours. If any of you say anything anymore you are out. It really is as easy as that."

Despite the warning, one man couldn't contain himself and exclaimed: 'If that's not self-defence to me I don't know what is I give up', before storming out of the courtroom. The judge said delays in the proceedings had 'saved' the brothers from immediate jail.

And he said the court was compelled to sentence them as though they were still 17 due to their age at the time of the crime. The judge told the court: "I would do anything I can to send them to custody, I really would, but it looks as if the guidelines are against that."

Learning that both were jobless, dependent on benefits, and illiterate due to dropping out of school, he went on: "I have kids of their age. They go to university. Aren't they lucky? But, and it's a big but, while in university my kids work in cafes, bars, in the service industry that doesn't require them to read and write."

The judge questioned why the two could not find work, asking: "Why can't these men get a job? There are lots of different jobs available in the service industry, there really are."

The brothers, now 20 and of 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 handed 18 months; detention, suspended for two years, at 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 sentenced after causing havoc at a family birthday party at the Hollywood Bowl venue after accusing their innocent victims of 'staring' at them.

During a verbal altercation near the pool tables at the Rubery site, 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 which struck a man in the face, causing him long-term damage and forcing him to retire from his £60,000-a-year job.

CCTV footage caught the mayhem that erupted at around 11.30pm on October 30, 2021, as a family out 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 signalled closing time, with Mark challenging them by asking 'what are you staring at?

The family made it clear they didn't 'want any trouble' but Jason launched an unprovoked punch at one of the men. The victim's father intervened to pull Jason away from his son, which sparked a brawl. Mark Joyce attempted to swing a pool cue, and after briefly leaving, Jason returned brandishing a machete.

"It's almost a miracle no-one was hurt by the blade," Mr Phillips said. Both brothers threw punches and kicks, then started hurling glasses from the bar, one striking a family member in the face.

The court heard the Joyces appeared to be laughing as they left the scene. Judge Bond ordered photographs of the victims' injuries be displayed on the court screens so the brothers 'can see what they did'. The younger victim showed a swollen face and black eyes from a broken eye socket and cheekbone.

His father, who suffered a facial glass strike, had evident lacerations and continues to struggle with vision issues. He expressed in a statement that he had to quit his £60,000-a-year job, lost his self-assurance, and found the situation 'extremely annoying and upsetting'.

Defence counsel for the two brothers submitted written pleas to the court, but Judge Bond clarified neither was necessary for personal mitigation as he could not directly incarcerate the twins without proper justification. He expressed his disapproval by saying: "I am utterly disgusted by the behaviour of these two defendants."

He continued: "The fact one of them thinks it appropriate to go out in public with a machete then produce it while drunk." Despite their limited £430-a-month Universal Credit income, Judge Bond maintained they must pay 'quite a bit of compensation. '

Passing sentence, he told them: "That family had the misfortune to attend Hollywood Bowl in Rubery. I say misfortune because you two drunken louts, that's exactly what you were, attacked them and caused them injuries.

"You are the sort of young men every decent person dreads meeting on a night out because you cause misery and upset. This phrase is often said by young men trying to demonstrate they are the 'big I am'; 'what are you staring at?

"As soon as you hear those words everybody knows there's going to be trouble, boy was there trouble on this night. You caused this confrontation despite what members of your family may think. I 100 per cent blame you two."

The judge also condemned their actions for instilling fear in 'middle-aged women', who would have been 'terrified' by the violence. But he went on: "As tempting as it is for me to impose immediate custodial sentences, I can't.

"I took an oath to do right by what the law says I must do and that's what I will do. I must follow the sentencing guidelines, not just for the particular offences but also the guidelines for sentencing children and young people."

Initially, the brothers stood with their arms crossed but later resorted to praying gestures. Judge Bond said they would have been looking at jail sentences of two years and eight months had they been dealt with as adults, after taking into account credit for their guilty pleas.

And he told them any violations of their suspended sentences would return to him, adding: "I hope I never see you again. Not just in court, I hope I never see you on a night out. You are every decent person's worst nightmare."