Man jailed for substantial disorder sparked by Norwich dog row

Bevin Bascombe, 34, became embroiled in an argument with another man believing a dog he had lost some months earlier was in the back of the man's van on Dereham Road, Norwich.

Norwich Crown Court heard Bascombe "decided to release the dog" leaving it running around, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Police at the affray in Dereham Road, Norwich in October 2022 (Image: Newsquest) Bascombe then armed himself with a broom handle, and the other man, who had a knife, became involved in a fight with each other.

Chris Youell, prosecuting, said the affray was "witnessed by a number of members of the public", some of who captured events on mobile phones.

Bascombe was himself hit with the broom handle he had earlier armed himself with but was still able to throw glass bottles at the other man, although they missed their target.

Mr Youell said "serious alarm and distress" was caused as a result of the incident on October 8 2022 which lasted about 25 minutes and saw Bascombe himself suffer a broken jaw.

Police at the affray in Dereham Road, Norwich (Image: Newsquest) Mr Youell said: "It was a fairly long drawn out incident.

"There was an element of luck no-one else was injured."

Bascombe, formerly of The Common, Chedgrave, appeared in court on Wednesday having been found guilty of affray following a trial last month.

Bevin Bascombe (Image: Norfolk Constabulary) He was also being sentenced after admitting being concerned in the supply of cocaine between August and December 2022 and being in possession of an ID document, a drivers licence, with improper intention on May 23 2022.

Jailing Bascombe for a total of four years, Recorder Ruth Brander accepted Bascombe had "genuinely believed" the dog was his - him having had a dog stolen some months earlier - but insisted his reactions were "out of all proportion" as the jury found.

She said in arming himself with a broom handle and advancing towards the other person involved, "throwing bottles" he had not acted in lawful self-defence.

Recorder Brander said his actions meant there would have been "significant alarm caused to members of the public".

Rich Hodges, mitigating, said Bascombe "caused no actual physical injury to others" although accepted there would have been fear caused to others.