Former FC Halifax Town footballer among four men sentenced after ‘disgraceful and sickening’ city centre affray

McLintock joined Halifax in January 2022 and was hailed as a promising player for the future but left the club that summer having not played a first-team game.

He has since played for Telford and Boston and now plays for Rushall Olympic.

One victim was left with a broken jaw after violence erupted in Nottingham city centre.

Another man was left with a laceration to his ear, while another suffered cuts and bruises after a series of clashes involving two groups of young men.

Declan Doherty, aged 24, Tommy Ledwidge, aged 23, Samuel McLintock, aged 23, and Callum O’Shaughnessy, aged 23, were each captured on CCTV and mobile phone footage as they repeatedly targeted their victims.

The violence started inside a venue in Victoria Street before spilling outside shortly after midnight on Sunday 30 October 2022.

CCTV cameras then captured a clear pattern of violence, with the defendants repeatedly attacking members of another group who wanted no further part in the violence.

During the ensuing melee, one victim was left lying unconscious in the street.

Doherty, of Norman Place Road, Coventry; Ledwidge, of Haynestone Road, Coventry; McLlintock, of Hollyfast Road, Coundon; and O’Shaughnessy, of Whitmore Manner Close, Coventry, later pleaded guilty to affray and appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Thursday (15 February).

The court heard from one of the victims how a badly broken jaw had caused him immense physical and emotional pain, and how the attack had had an extremely negative impact on his life.

Defence counsel for each of the men stressed their clients’ extreme remorse and regret at what happened, and also provided evidence of previous good character.

Sentencing each of the men to 18 months imprisonment suspended for two years, Judge William Harbage KC condemned the “disgraceful and sickening” act of group violence.

He also ordered the men to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, and to pay compensation of £1,000.

Detective Constable Mark Shirra, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a serious incident of disorder that will have caused considerable distress to those who witnessed it.

“Nottingham city centre benefits not only from a thriving night-time economy, but also from a very effective CCTV network which in this case provided damning evidence on each of these men.

“Their behaviour on the night in question was absolutely disgraceful and I am pleased they have now been held to account for their actions.

“This kind of violence is utterly unacceptable and I hope this case sends out a very clear warning to others – that if you behave in this way in our city centre you will be identified and you will end up in court.

“Each of these young men could have walked away at any point but instead chose to progressively escalate attacks against people who very clearly wanted no further part in it.

“They have now faced the consequences of their actions and I sincerely hope they each use this experience to change the direction of their lives for the better.”