Three men found guilty of being involved in large fight in Derby
It happened at a Kabbadi tournament in 2023
Three men have been found guilty of being involved in a large scale fight involving machetes and guns at a sporting event in Derby.
A number of people were injured when violence broke out between two groups attending a Kabbadi tournament in Alvaston in the summer of 2023.
Police were called to the scene, off Elvaston Lane, just before 4pm on Sunday 20 August after reports of shots being fired and people fighting with weapons.
Video footage from the event showed Boota Singh being part of a group running after the opposing group. While he didn’t have a weapon with him at the time of the violence, when police stopped his car two days later, officers found two machetes in the boot.
Damanjit Singh and Rajvinder Takhar Singh were both seen with large knives.
All of the men were arrested and subsequently charged.
They denied the charges but after a trial at Derby Crown Court in Novenber they were found guilty of:
Boota Singh, 35, of Witham Drive, Derby – violent disorder. He also admitted possession of an offensive weapon at the start of the trial.
Damanjit Singh, 35, of Powell Place, Tipton – violent disorder and possession of a bladed article. Convicted in his absence.
Raj Takhar Singh, 42, of Patterdale Drive, Huddersfield – violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon
All will be sentenced on 19 December.
Two other men had been on trial for their part in the violence but were found not guilty by the jury.
Following a previous trial held at Derby Crown Court in 2024, seven other men have already jailed for their part in the violence.
Detective Inspector Chris Barker, the Senior Investigating Officer, said: “These men deliberately armed themselves with weapons at this event, which should have been a fun family friendly sporting tournament.
“However their actions and the levels of violence demonstrated on this day meant that it instead turned into a huge violent disorder which left multiple people injured and many people fearing for their safety.
“I know that the vast majority of people who attended this event did so with good intentions and they have helped and supported us throughout this long-running investigation, for which we are very grateful.
“This has been a hugely complex case and all of the team involved have worked incredibly hard to bring these men to justice so I’d like to add my thanks to them as well.”
Detective Constable Stevie Barker, who led the investigation, said: “The mindless violence displayed by these men on this day completely ruined what should have been a fun sporting event.
“Investigations have shown a clear level of pre-planning by those involved and the sheer fact they were all armed showed their obvious intentions to cause trouble and inflict significant injuries to other people.
“The numbers of people present at the day and the scenes that unfolded and were captured on camera mean this has been a very large scale and difficult investigation over the last two years. All of the officers involved have put in many long hours to build this case and their hard work and detemination has now paid off with these men being brought to justice.
“I am very grateful to all of those involved in this investigation, right from the beginning where we were working hard to identify the offenders, through to building the case for court and all of the work that has taken place in between. We couldn’t have got to this point without all of the dedicated officers who have been involved and I’d like to thank them all for their incredible work.
“I am pleased that this second group of offenders have now been brought to justice for the appalling scenes we saw back in August 2023 and I hope they are never repeated in our county or anywhere else.”