A teenager involved in one of Birmingham city centre’s most violent family brawls has been caught and sentenced after evading the law for over a year.
Thomas Sweeney junior, now 19, was due to be sentenced in August 2024 for his role in a large-scale violent incident in the Gay Village that took place in July 2023. The confrontation, involving multiple family members, was captured on clear CCTV footage and shocked the local community.
At the time of the incident, Sweeney junior, then 18, along with his mother Ellen Sweeney and father Thomas Sweeney senior, pleaded guilty to violent disorder. The family requested a delay in their sentencing so Thomas Jr. could marry before facing prison time. However, on the scheduled sentencing day, all three failed to appear in court and disappeared, leading to suspicions that they had fled to Ireland.
READ MORE: Skechers’ “Comfiest Trainers Ever” Now Under £30 – Feel Like Walking on Air
READ MORE: Walsall Council Faces Scrutiny on Costs and Key Issues Ahead of 2026 Meeting
Judge Dean Kershaw proceeded to sentence the trio in their absence, handing Sweeney junior a prison term of two years and four months.
On January 8, 2025, Birmingham Crown Court confirmed that Thomas Sweeney junior was apprehended on January 3 by Cheshire Police. Acting on a tip-off connected to a vehicle he was driving on the M6, officers stopped him. Initially providing a false name, he was soon identified through police records as the wanted individual.
Speaking via video link from HMP Altcourse, Sweeney junior admitted to failing to surrender to bail. His defense lawyer, Queenie Djan, explained that he panicked following the incident, fled to Ireland after marrying, and during his time on the run, suffered personal losses including the deaths of his grandparents. Eventually, he resolved to face the consequences of his actions.
Despite Sweeney junior’s claim that he was en route to surrender at Stechford Police Station when arrested, Judge Kershaw dismissed this, criticizing him for disregarding the court’s compassion in allowing him to marry and expecting him to return for sentencing.
In a departure from usual sentencing guidelines, the judge added an extra two months to Sweeney junior’s term, making it a total of 28 months.
The violent episode unfolded in the early hours of July 15, 2023, outside the Glamorous nightclub in the Gay Village. The Sweeney family, including at least five other relatives, engaged in drunken assaults on multiple bystanders. The judge described the melee as one of the worst disturbances ever witnessed in the city centre. Thomas junior’s actions included repeatedly punching and kicking a man and attacking a taxi driver.
Meanwhile, Ellen Sweeney, 39, and Thomas Sweeney senior, 43, remain missing and at large.