Police were alerted by the ambulance service to an ongoing disturbance outside an address in Fenham, Newcastle, at about 3.40am on March 24, 2024.

Officers were swiftly deployed to Deanham Gardens, where two male victims, aged in their 40s and 20s, were found seriously injured.

The perpetrators had fled the area by the time the first officers arrived on scene, prompting the city’s Serious Organised Crime Investigation Team (SOCIT) to launch an investigation.

Initial inquiries revealed that a group of people arrived at the residential property in two cars, a Mercedes Sprinter van and Nissan Juke, prior to the incident.

Brothers Filip, left, and Josef Badzo each jailed for three years for their part in a street assault outside property in Newcastle (Image: The Northern Echo)

Three of those present then became involved in an altercation with two occupants outside the address.

Nearby CCTV footage revealed three offenders, including brothers Filip and Josef Badzo, use bodily force as well as bricks and a baseball bat during the street fight.

The trio were arrested and, while they denied being in the area at the time, detectives were able to place their phones and vehicles at the scene.

Both Badzo brothers were subsequently charged with two counts of grievous bodily harm and one each of violent disorder.

Filip Badzo given three-year prison sentence for his part in street assault in Fenham, Newcastle, in March 2024 (Image: Northumbria Police)

The duo, both of Colston Street, Newcastle, repeatedly denied their involvement but were found guilty by a jury at the city’s crown court. in March.

Josef Badzo also received a three-year prison sentence for Newcastle street assault (Image: Northumbria Police)

During the proceedings the court heard how the male victim in his 20s continues to suffer lasting effects of the attack, including speech impairment and headaches.

The victim in his 40s sustained a ruptured spleen and is no longer able to perform full-time work.

Filip Badzo, now 19, and Josef Badzo, now 24, were remanded and on Tuesday (June 23) were brought back before the court where they were both given three-year prison sentences.

The third man involved in the attack will be sentenced for two charges of grievous bodily harm with intent and one count of violent disorder at a later date.

Speaking after the brothers’ sentencing hearing, Detective Constable Sophie Snowdon, of Northumbria Police, said: “This was a shocking incident which saw a group launch a violent attack on two other men, after turning up at their Newcastle home set on causing disorder.

“They sparked a great deal of alarm in the wider community in the early hours of that morning, with the offenders turning up as part of a separate concern.

“What then unfolded was a serious assault outside the property, leaving two of the occupants with life-changing injuries to this day.

“While we may never know the full circumstances which led to this incident, we were determined to put those involved before the courts after a complex investigation.

“And, thanks to the overwhelming and thorough evidence stacked against those involved, they were found guilty following a two-week trial.”

 Det Con Snowdon added: “As a force, we completely recognise the impact of such offending in our communities and we’ll do all we can to secure justice against violent perpetrators.

Read next … more court stories from The Northern Echo, by clicking here

“Nobody wants this type of criminality on their doorstep, and I’m pleased to see both Filip and Josef Badzo are now rightly behind bars and out of the way.

“I hope this case demonstrates our commitment to investigating such crimes, no matter how long it takes.

“We’ll use every tactic at our disposal.”

Harmful narratives about domestic abuse persist in our society. They can include questioning “why doesn’t the victim just leave?”. They might mean believing in a hierarchy of abuse, where physical abuse is taken more seriously than other forms.

Stereotypical characterisations of how a victim should behave and what a perpetrator looks like remain. Overall, a lack of understanding and awareness serves to silence and exclude those most affected.

Research I conducted in West Yorkshire revealed that these narratives are entrenched within social services, the legal system, the police and wider society. Dispelling these ideas about domestic abuse is vital if people affected are to get the support they need.

Many of those needing support are teenagers. UK data shows that young people aged between 16 and 19 are among the groups most affected by domestic abuse. Despite these figures, educational guidance does not prepare students to recognise or respond to abusive relationships adequately.

Harassment and the normalisation of harmful behaviour are widespread in schools. Research from schools inspectorate Ofsted has found that nine in ten girls have experienced sexist name-calling or unsolicited sexual images. It’s critical that education aimed at stopping harmful narratives about domestic abuse takes place in secondary schools.

Guidance for schools

In December 2025, the UK government released its long-awaited strategy for tackling violence against women and girls. The strategy also recognises that supporting young people and providing a route to change extends beyond the school environment. This is evident in a package of preventative measures, including a new helpline for young people who are concerned about harmful behaviour. However, while the strategy recognises that educational interventions have a vital part to play, it lacks detail on what these might look like.

The strategy followed the publication of statutory guidance on relationships, sex and health education, released in July 2025. This guidance introduced welcome developments. It outlines broad expectations for the teaching of relationships, including the recognition of abuse, and brings several improvements in the area of domestic abuse education.

This guidance improves clarity around legal definitions and acknowledges the importance of schools identifying harmful behaviour in their relationships education discussions. It makes some progress toward acknowledging harmful narratives and misconceptions about domestic abuse.

Again, though, it lacks specific details to support schools. It still does not equip secondary school students with the critical knowledge and nuanced understanding necessary to identify abuse, challenge stigma or contribute to long-term cultural and societal change. There is no clear roadmap for teachers to challenge misconceptions in practice. It fails to outline how domestic abuse should be taught progressively across key stages.

Based on research, I’ve put together a comprehensive educational programme to reframe how domestic abuse is taught and understood in secondary schools.

I designed the programme in partnership with West Yorkshire Combined Authority, West Yorkshire Police, Leeds City Council, Leeds Domestic Violence Service Voices Project, +Choices (a service for perpetrators of domestic abuse) and local secondary schools. It offers age-appropriate, engaging content and opportunities for critical discussion that challenges stereotypical and reductive narratives of abuse. The pilot of this programme is currently underway across West Yorkshire. The aim is to make it a compulsory part of the curriculum in the region from September 2026.

The programme of lessons is built around a short animation video (above). This takes young people on a journey down a typical street visiting the homes of four different types of couples experiencing different types of abuse. Each lesson is tailored to a specific year group, ensuring that lessons remain age appropriate. Additionally, lessons are designed flexibly, deliverable either in one hour or in three 20-minute sessions, to accommodate the different ways in which schools deliver the relationships and sex education curriculum.

For year seven (ages 11 and 12) the lesson begins by introducing the couples in the video and what domestic abuse is. Students explore what happens behind closed doors and identifying trusted adults in their lives.

From year eight (ages 12 to 13) onward, each lesson focuses on a scenario from the animation as students explore the dynamics and abusive behaviours in each relationship. Sessions focus on witnessing domestic abuse and exploring unsafe relationship patterns. They cover the cycle of abuse, coercive control, financial abuse, social isolation, stalking, digital abuse, love bombing and emotional abuse.

The aim of the programme is to encourage teachers and students alike to better recognise, prevent and respond to abusive relationships in all forms. It makes a proactive step towards realising the government’s commitment to ensuring that “children are taught to tackle harmful ideas, unhealthy views about relationships and misogyny in school”.

‘If yous continue to target the British Armed Forces including the PSNI the consequences will be swift and deadly’

A Belfast man convicted of sending a menacing message directed at the family of a Bloody Sunday victim has been jailed for six months.

Dean Portis, 42, faced prosecution over a social media posting seen by the three brothers of William McKinney, one of those shot dead by the British Army in Derry.

He was also banned from intimidating or harassing them as part of a two-year restraining order.

Welcoming his sentence, the victims vowed never to tolerate online threats from any “sinister far-right sectarian thugs”.

Portis, of Olive Street in the city, denied two counts of improper use of a public communications network to send a message of a menacing character.

But in April he was found guilty of both offences following a contest at Belfast Magistrates’ Court.

Prosecutors said Portis targeted the brothers on September 18 and October 22 last year during the high profile Soldier F trial.

The former member of the Parachute Regiment was accused but ultimately found not guilty of murdering 26-year-old William McKinney on Bloody Sunday.

Mr McKinney was among 13 people shot dead when troops opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in Derry’s Bogside on January 30, 1972.

Police were alerted to a Facebook posting allegedly attributed to Portis, who also uses the name Dean Martin, early on in Soldier F’s trial last year.

Above a newspaper report and photograph of Mr McKinney’s three brothers, Joe, Mickey and John, attending the hearing in Belfast a message stated: “If yous continue to target the British Armed Forces including the PSNI the consequences will be swift and deadly.”

The posting added: “Yous have been warned.”

Portis insisted the message was not directed at or about the brothers, instead claiming his intention was only about creating a platform for debate.

But in witness statements the three complainants described being left in a state of fear they were being watched and potentially under threat.

John McKinney expressed concerns that the postings could have been made by a dangerous and violent individual.

“I am worried for myself and my family’s safety since seeing this,” he stated.

“I have fear that I am being watched and followed. I take this threat seriously and fear that something could happen.”

Sentencing Portis today, Deputy District Judge John Rea imposed three months custody for the offences.

He also activated a previous suspended term and ordered the defendant to serve a further three months behind bars.

Under the terms of the two-year restraining order, Portis is also forbidden from pestering the brothers or journalist Hugh Jordan.

Solicitor Ciaran Shiels of Madden & Finucane law firm, who represented the McKinney family, welcomed the outcome.

Mr Shiels added: “During the Soldier F trial we said that we simply would not tolerate victims, especially the families of those murdered and the wounded on Bloody Sunday, being threatened by the sinister far-right sectarian thugs who brazenly misused the internet and social media in order to spread hate and to attempt to instill fear.”

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