The large-scale fight involved machetes and guns
Police at the scene in Derby after the incident on August 20, 2023, in Elvaston Lane(Image: Derby Telegraph)
Three more 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 (see explanation at the bottom of this story) in Alvaston in the summer of 2023.
Police were called to the scene, off Elvaston Lane, just before 4pm on Sunday, August 20, after reports of shots being fired and people fighting with weapons.
Video footage from the event showed Boota Singh as 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 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 of them will be sentenced on December 19.
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 were jailed for their part in the violence.
Detective Inspector Chris Barker, 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, added: “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.”
What is kabaddi?
Kabaddi is a team contact sport, usually played by members of seven people. Also known as kaudi, the objective of the game is for a single player, named the “raider” to lead the offence by running into the opposing team’s half of the court.
Their goal is to “touch out” as many of their players as they can and return to their own team’s half of the court, all without being tackled by the defenders on the other team, within 30 seconds. Each team will score points for every player tagged by the raider, while the opposing team earns a point for stopping the raider.
