A PAIR of boozed-up brothers who started a brawl on a garage forecourt after leaving their uncle’s wake have been locked up.

Jack and Michael Beattie launched an unprovoked attack on a group of men in a black Mercedes when they were leaving a Tesco fuel station in Middlesbrough.

The melee erupted when younger brother Jack reacted angrily to the driver of the car as he drove towards him.

It ended with the 29-year-old biting the driver before causing damage to the car and refusing to leave after climbing inside and throwing objects into the road.

Teesside Crown Court heard how 38-year-old Michael then armed himself with two glass bottles while challenging the occupants of the car to a fight and smashing one on the Mercedes.

CCTV footage showed the elder brother chasing people around the forecourt before he was knocked out cold when he was eventually punched and kicked to the ground.

The court heard how the brothers caused more than £2,000 worth of damage to the Mercedes during the affray after smashing a bottle into the rear window and tearing out interior fittings.

Tabitha Buck, prosecuting, said Michael Beattie, who has a plaster cast on his arm, used the bottles to cause damage to the car before he was knocked unconscious just after 10pm on July 2 last year.

She said: “A fight between all parties ensued, with punches being thrown’ kicking and tussling. During the course of the incident, Jack Beattie got into the vehicle and caused damage to it.”

Miss Buck said Michael Beattie then hit a police officer with his urine-soaked plaster cast after he was taken to hospital for treatment.

Jack Beattie, of Enderby Gardens, Hemlington, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to affray, causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage following the violent bust-up. He also pleaded guilty assaulting an emergency worker when he bit a police officer on March 20, 2021, while he was being arrested.

Ayman Khakar, in mitigation, said it was ‘abundantly clear’ that alcohol was the root cause of all of his client’s criminal offending.

He added: “These were all stupid offences committed under the influence of drink.”

Elder brother, Michael, of Longhirst, Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to affray, criminal damage and assaulting an emergency worker.

Andrew Nixon, in mitigation, said his client had gone to help his brother after he became involved in the altercation with the occupants of the Mercedes.

He tried to persuade the judge that Michael had played a lesser role in the violence and had received ‘summary’ justice at the time.

Judge Howard Crowson jailed the pair for eight months apiece for all charges.

He said: “You caused substantial damage to the inside and you were refusing to leave the car for quite some time. Your brother on the other hand appear on the scene and you misguidedly thought your brother needed some kind of defending – not that that was you did.

“You made no attempt to go to at all and it is impossible to conclude that was what you were up to because you quite soon armed yourself with two glass bottles and brandished them like you wanted to use them.”

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