Witness recalls hammer attacks, gunshots and knife wounds in Wolverhampton violence

A 16-year-old fired a gun, another of the same age clubbed a teenage girl with a hammer, while at least two others had knives when violence flared in and around Wolverhampton's Britannia Hotel.

Yesterday, a jury at the city's crown court found two youths, aged 16 and 17, guilty of taking part in the shocking scenes.

An innocent group of girls who had just arrived in the city for a night out found themselves thrust into the middle of a violent row between rival gangs.

Terrifying scenes vividly captured on a mobile phone by a shocked onlooker show how the mass brawl unfolded.

One image shows a youth with a hammer raised above his head while a girl cowers in fear on the ground. Another shows the same boy with the hammer raised in front of another youth near the hotel entrance. The youth can then be seen on the hotel steps as another boy approaches brandishing a knife.

Another image shows three youths rushing through the doors of the hotel as members of the public attempt to get out of the way.

Mark Tobin, deputy manager of the Britannia Hotel in Lichfield Street, witnessed the trouble when it kicked off.

He recalled: "A boy about 15 to 16-years-old came from the direction of the Prince Albert Pub. I heard him say in a local accent, 'Get here blud, you've had it – I'm going to get you'. He was holding a lump hammer.

"He held it in his left hand by his leg. I thought something was about to happen. He was about 20ft to 30ft away. I saw two females and around 12 males just outside the restaurant. They looked 14 to 18-years-old.

"As I came closer, I heard lots of shouting and screaming. I can't recall what was being said. I saw a male swinging a hammer around aggressively. He grabbed one of the females with his left hand by her hair.

"He was swinging her around by her hair trying to get her to the floor. He was swinging the hammer around but I couldn't tell if it hit her. She was trying to fight him off.

"Another male had his hand up and something black was in his hand but I couldn't see what it was. I heard a bang which was like a firearm. It was a similar sound to when I have been clay pigeon shooting.There was smoke."

Mr Tobin said some of the gang ran off towards Broad Street but others stayed to fight.

"The male with the hammer was fighting with a male in dungarees who had a knife in his hand. I didn't see the knife make contact. It went on for a couple of minutes," he said.

"A few people came into the hotel, tumbling towards guests through the front door. I didn't see what happened inside as I remained outside.

"After a moment the man with the hammer appeared at the front door. I told him he had to go. He said, 'Can I stay in here? He's got a knife.' Some of the males from the tattoo parlour detained him on the floor. He said, 'Come on man, you don't understand, I have been stabbed'.

"There was a stab wound on his chest. The whole thing lasted about five minutes. I was shocked about what I had seen."

A 17-year-old girl who was a friend of a victim of the hammer attack and knew both defendants, told the jury that she had seen them both during the fracas.

She said: "A group of between 10 and 15 boys with weapons were shouting. Then I heard what sounded like a gunshot go off. I looked straight where it had come from and saw him holding what looked like a black handgun. He was on the opposite side of the road about 10 metres away. He lifted it and pointed it at me and one of my friends as if he was looking for somebody else.

"Then I saw him moving the gun to point at another of the girls. I started shouting at her. I was quite worried because I didn't know if it was a real gun or not. I was in shock and did not know how to react. The whole incident was very frightening."

She also said she saw the 17-year-old defendant with a knife. A blank bullet casing was recovered from the scene after the brawl. The gun was never found but it is thought to have been a starting pistol.

Violence flared again during the trial. A fight involving other young men started in the street outside the court during a lunch break on the first day of the trial. Police recovered a machete. Two 17-year-old's were arrested on suspicion of affray and possession of an offensive weapon.