An 18-year-old man has been jailed for two years and eight months following his role in a violent incident in Canterbury city centre.
Charlie Golding and others were involved in an argument with a group they saw as rivals in a department store in St George’s Street on Wednesday 1 September 2021.
The two groups then left the store and Golding led his group along the High Street towards the Westgate Towers, in pursuit of the others.
Swinging a belt
CCTV showed him swinging a belt at one of those he was chasing, hitting the victim in the face.
Others were seen holding parts of chairs and bottles during the chase, but Golding was the only one seen on CCTV hitting one of the others.
He was arrested the following day and charged with violent disorder, an offence he later admitted at court.
At Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday 3 February 2022, Golding, formerly of Kemsing Gardens, was ordered to serve 20 months in a young offenders’ institution for that offence.
At the same hearing, the judge revoked a Youth Rehabilitation Order which was imposed on Golding for an offence of violent disorder he committed in Canterbury on Thursday 6 June 2019.
That was replaced with a 12-month consecutive detention order, meaning his total sentence was one of two years and eight months.
In the June 2019 incident, a 17-year-old boy suffered life-changing injuries during a confrontation in Rose Lane. Golding admitted involvement in the events leading up to the assault, but not involvement in the assault itself.
‘Mindless violence’
PC Georgia England, Kent Police’s investigating officer for the latest offence, said: ‘There is absolutely no place for this kind of mindless violence in Canterbury, or anywhere else in Kent.
‘Kent Police takes assaults and anti-social behaviour very seriously and will always work to bring those responsible before the courts. I am pleased this violent offender has now been jailed and is no longer able to bring such shameful scenes to the streets of the city.’