Derby street descended into 'utter chaos' as men ran amok with weapons and drugs

A street in Derby descended into “utter chaos” as masked men carrying weapons ran amok. Derby Crown Court heard how one gang armed themselves with machetes and baseball bats while burglars who had broken into one of the Pear Tree properties ran around carrying large bags of cannabis they had stolen from it.

Residents came out of their homes to watch the violet scene in Reeves Road. But to date just one man, father-of-two Nicholas Jones, has been prosecuted for the role he played in it.

Jailing the heavily-convicted 35-year-old for 16 months, Judge Gregory Dickinson KC said: “There was not just risk of serious disorder, there was serious disorder. Cannabis not only does physical and mental damage to those who use it but cannabis generates violence as it did on this occasion.

“People broke into a property to steal it and you were part of a group which responded to that, arriving on an electronic bike with your face covered by a balaclava and holding a baseball bat. Another person with you had a machete and an axe.

“CCTV shows you dragging somebody away in a headlock.” Rebecca Coleman, prosecuting, said the disorder took place just before 6pm on August 18, this year.

She said a resident living in Reeves Road “heard a commotion outside” and looked out to see the scene unfolding. The prosecutor said: “One group of men were running along the street carrying large bags of cannabis which had been stolen from one of the houses.

“Another group arrived, including this defendant, his face covered and carrying a baseball bat, on an electronic bike. He was squirted in the face and took off his t-shirt to wipe his eyes.

“There was a machete, an axe, it was a scene of utter chaos.” Miss Coleman said the police arrived and Jones, of Pear Tree, was recognised from CCTV which was seized and later arrested. He pleaded guilty to threatening another with an offensive weapon in a public place.

He has 17 previous court appearances for 26 offences. In August, 2021, when he lived in Bakewell Street, Stockbrook, Jones was jailed for three years after police found him with more than half a kilo of cannabis.

At the time he was on a suspended sentence for growing the class B drug. Steve Cobley, for the defendant, now of Cameron Road, said his client has recently been given sole responsibility for his 13-year-old son. He said: “This was an ugly incident and clearly unacceptable behaviour but it seems the majority of the residents in the street, rather than being upset, were simply watching what was going on.”

Judge Dickinson asked Mr Cobley: “Has anyone else been prosecuted for either violent disorder or burglary?” He replied: “No.”