OFF THE WIRE
Steve Bradley
birminghammail.net
ONE of Birmingham’s most wanted crooks has been jailed for nearly four years for inciting a blood-soaked biker brawl at Birmingham Airport.
Terrified holidaymakers were forced to dive for cover when Joseph Patrick John Lagrue, now aged 43, provoked a battle between rival gangs the Hell’s Angels and the Outlaws in January 2008 when the groups found themselves together on a flight from Alicante, Spain.
Today Lagrue begins a four-year jail sentence for his role in the brawl in which 30 people, some armed with hammers, machetes, knuckledusters, knives and a meat cleaver, battled each other in a sickening scene of violence. One man nearly died.
CCTV footage showed Lagrue, a member of the Outlaws, who was wearing a white bandanna, followed the Hell’s Angels as they left the terminal and was heard to provoke them. Eventually the gangs clashed.
Lagrue later absconded and was named as wanted by detectives who added his fact to their website. He handed himself in at Solihull police station in September.
He pleaded guilty to rioting at Warwickshire Crown Court last month.
Passing sentence yesterday Judge Patrick Thomas QC said: “There is no doubt at all you were one of the principals, if not the principal in bringing about a riot that took place.
“In a nutshell, you started it.
“You explain in your pre-sentence report that you started it because someone was unpleasant to you, but I’m entirely satisfied you took a leading role in provoking the other team that let to this incident which was obviously simmering away and boiling over, causing the disturbance which caused so much concern.”
Nine men were imprisoned in July 2009 for the terminal battle which left one man fighting for his life.
However, Lagrue, a member of the Outlaws, became a fugitive until September this year when he handed himself in at Solihull police station in September.
During his sentencing hearing it was revealed he used the time on the run to kick long-standing drink and drug addictions before deciding to face the consequences of his actions.
Judge Thomas added: “You evaded justice, you left the scene because you had been knocked unconscious and were taken away by others.
“Thereafter, knowing perfectly well you were being searched for by the police you tucked yourself away and waited and waited and waited to face the music.”
Read More http://www.birminghammail.net/news/birmingham-news/2011/12/21/joseph-lagrue-jailed-for-hells-angels-and-outlaws-biker-brawl-at-birmingham-airport-97319-29989022/#ixzz1hPqKKWoS
Terrified holidaymakers were forced to dive for cover when Joseph Patrick John Lagrue, now aged 43, provoked a battle between rival gangs the Hell’s Angels and the Outlaws in January 2008 when the groups found themselves together on a flight from Alicante, Spain.
Today Lagrue begins a four-year jail sentence for his role in the brawl in which 30 people, some armed with hammers, machetes, knuckledusters, knives and a meat cleaver, battled each other in a sickening scene of violence. One man nearly died.
CCTV footage showed Lagrue, a member of the Outlaws, who was wearing a white bandanna, followed the Hell’s Angels as they left the terminal and was heard to provoke them. Eventually the gangs clashed.
Lagrue later absconded and was named as wanted by detectives who added his fact to their website. He handed himself in at Solihull police station in September.
He pleaded guilty to rioting at Warwickshire Crown Court last month.
Passing sentence yesterday Judge Patrick Thomas QC said: “There is no doubt at all you were one of the principals, if not the principal in bringing about a riot that took place.
“In a nutshell, you started it.
“You explain in your pre-sentence report that you started it because someone was unpleasant to you, but I’m entirely satisfied you took a leading role in provoking the other team that let to this incident which was obviously simmering away and boiling over, causing the disturbance which caused so much concern.”
Nine men were imprisoned in July 2009 for the terminal battle which left one man fighting for his life.
However, Lagrue, a member of the Outlaws, became a fugitive until September this year when he handed himself in at Solihull police station in September.
During his sentencing hearing it was revealed he used the time on the run to kick long-standing drink and drug addictions before deciding to face the consequences of his actions.
Judge Thomas added: “You evaded justice, you left the scene because you had been knocked unconscious and were taken away by others.
“Thereafter, knowing perfectly well you were being searched for by the police you tucked yourself away and waited and waited and waited to face the music.”
Read More http://www.birminghammail.net/news/birmingham-news/2011/12/21/joseph-lagrue-jailed-for-hells-angels-and-outlaws-biker-brawl-at-birmingham-airport-97319-29989022/#ixzz1hPqKKWoS