Sheffield Crown Court: Trio 'took law into their own hands' in attack on man having affair with teenage girl

Judge Rachael Harrison told defendants Christopher Mhigo, Servious Ncube and a 33-year-old woman that ‘however well-intentioned’ your motivations may be, it is never a ‘good idea’ to ‘take the law into your own hands’.

The comments were made during a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court on March 11, when the court was told how shortly before the attack took place, the complainant, then aged 25, was revealed to be having an affair with a 16-year-old known to the trio.

The 33-year-old woman, arranged to visit the complainant’s house with her sister under the ‘pretext of talking about matters’ on the evening of April 17, 2018, prosecuting barrister, Ian West, told the court.

Mhigo decided to come along to the complainant’s house after he bumped into the sisters as they were making their way there.

Mr West said Ncube, 32, also came along because he was a friend of the complainant’s, and along with Mhigo, intended on assisting in communication with the complainant, who is from the Congolese community.

However, when the group arrived at the complainant’s house in Rotherham, violence immediately ensued in the doorway to his property.

The court heard how all three defendants were involved in the attack, inflicting numerous punches and kicks upon him, with Mhigo, 36, taking a ‘leading role’ and the 33-year-old woman’s involvement limited to the beginning of the assault.

"The complainant tried to escape and went into his garden, but was chased by you,” Judge Harrison told the defendants.

Mr West said that following the group attack, the complainant was left with fractures to the right and left side of his jaw, and also experienced numbness to his lips.

His jaw fractures had to be ‘reduced and fixed’ using titanium plates and screws, Mr West added.

In a statement to the court, the complainant said the attack has had ‘a devastating affect on his life’ and he has felt it necessary to move away in order to put some distance between him and the defendants.

“I still have jaw pain, and this is worse when I eat. I take co-codamol every day to deal with the persistent pain,” he said.

Ncube, of Longfellow Drive, Rotherham, and the 33-year-old woman pleaded guilty to a charge of affray at an earlier hearing, while Mhigo, of Oak Meadows, Rotherham, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm without intent.

Although the judge mentioned the trio taking the law into their own hands, there was no suggestion the complainant had done anything illegal.

The court heard how despite their guilty pleas, all three defendants had denied involvement in the incident to the author of their pre-sentence reports, but by the time of their sentencing hearing, the defendants acknowledged their part in the attack.

Representing Mhigo, Matthew Burdon said his client had not committed any further crimes in the four years between the incident and the sentencing hearing, which was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Burdon also told the court that Mhigo is a full-time carer for his mother, who had a stroke in 2017, and is now ‘non-verbal’.

Judge Harrison said the best point of mitigation that could be made for the other defendants was the fact that they too had not committed any further crimes since the attack.

She sentenced all three defendants to an 18-month community order and three-month curfew.

The 33-year-old woman was also ordered to complete a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement, while Mhigo was also handed a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 150 hours of unpaid work.

Ncube also received 150 hours of unpaid work, along with a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement.