Twin brothers who are illiterate have been told to ‘get a job’ after wrecking a family bowling party because the guests were ‘staring’ at them.
Jason and Mark Joyce launched into a tirade of violence and pulled out a machete, threatened the party with a pool cue and glassed a man in the face in 2021 in Rubery, Birmingham.
The victims was left with a broken eye socket and cheekbone, and cuts over the face with one man being forced retire from his job due to vision problems.
The twins were slammed by Judge Richard Bond as ‘drunken louts every decent person dreads meeting on a night out’ and accused them of acting like they were on a ‘ITV morning show’ following a number of disruptions from the public gallery.
Both brothers, now aged 20, admitting unlawful wounding while Jason also pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and making threats with a bladed article.
They were sentenced to 18 months detention suspended for two years at Birmingham Crown Court.
Both twins were also ordered to carry out 175 hours of unpaid work and pay £2,250 in compensation.
The family targeted by the Joyces were out celebrating a 30th birthday when the twins turned on them after it was announced the bar was closing, Simon Phillips, prosecuting, said.
The family made attempts to reassure the twins they did not ‘want any trouble’ but then Jason punched one man in the face in an unprovoked attack.
Mark Joyce tried swinging a pool cue while Jason exited the immediate area only to return wielding a machete.
‘It’s almost a miracle no-one was hurt by the blade,’ Mr Phillips said.
Both twins landed punches and kicks before they grabbed glasses from the bar area and threw them, with one of them hitting one of the male members of the family in the face.
The Joyces were then observed laughing as they left, the court was told.
As the footage of the incident was played noises could be heard coming from defendants’ family in public gallery prompting Judge Bond to issue them a warning.
He said: ‘This is a public court you are entitled to be here. It is not a TV show on ITV in the morning where the public think they can join in. You don’t in a public court.’
The judge said the delay in the case had ‘saved’ them adding he had also got to sentence them as if they they were still 17.
But after hearing both were on benefits, without jobs, and were illiterate having dropped out of school Judge Bond said: ‘I have got kids of their age. They go to university. Aren’t they lucky? But, and it’s a big but, while in university my kids all work in cafes, in bars, in the service industry that doesn’t require them to read and write.
‘Why can’t these men get a job? There are lots of different jobs available in the service industry, there really are.’
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