Cousins' shooting trial descends into courtroom brawl 'like you would see at a football match'

The trial of two cousins descended into a brawl in which the defendants and around 20 members of the gallery were involved. One witness described the chaotic scenes in Sheffield Crown Court as "the type of thing you'd expect to see at a football match" after jurors returned a guilty verdict.

Ricky Mayfield, 30, and his cousin 24-year-old Francis Mayfield were convicted of firearms charges related to an attack on a man in woodlands in April 2017.

The court's usher told the Sheffield Star that Ricky Mayfield leapt the dock after the jury and judge had exited the court, and headed towards the prosecution and an investigating officer.

"[A]s soon as it started, about 20 - 22 people from the public gallery came down and got involved," the usher told the paper, adding: "It's the type of thing you'd expect to see at a football match."

The man said that security from elsewhere had to be brought in to help deal with the situation.

Paul Mitchell, the prosecuting barrister, said he'd never seen anything like it in 24 years and added that around half of those that came down from the gallery were acting as "peacemakers" in the fracas.

The two were sentenced later in the day at the same court room for the incident which was branded a "cowardly act" by the judge. Prosecutors said that Ricky had fired a shotgun at their victim twice and missed after Francis yelled "blast him".

The victim had come closer to the two as Ricky reloaded in an attempt to stop them but instead was shot again, leaving him without several fingers on his left hand. Ricky, who had left prison just three weeks before the incident, was sentenced to 15 years with an extended licence period of five years.

Francis, the younger cousin, was sentenced to 10 years' jail.