James Robson, Oliver Turnbull and a third male chased a man into the premises and assaulted him before acting aggressively, goading customers and throwing cans of drinks
15:38, 06 Apr 2026
Oliver Turnbull leaving Newcastle Crown and Magistrates’ Courts Newcastle Quayside(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
Three men have avoided jail after they stormed into a city centre café and “terrified” staff and customers. James Robson, Oliver Turnbull and a third male chased a man into Knoops, in Newcastle, and assaulted him as he tried to hide behind the counter.
A court heard that, after staff managed to usher in victim into the safety of a basement, the trio then started acting aggressively to everyone in the cafe, goading some customers and throwing cans of drinks. The whole incident left one worker terrified and unable to come into work the following day, prosecutors said.
As previously reported on Chroniclelive, Turnbull, 18, of Dorking Avenue, in North Shields, and Robson, 21, of Meadow Vale, Shiremoor, appeared at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court last month and pleaded guilty to one count each of affray. Robson also admitted one count of criminal damage.
The third male appeared at the same court in a separate hearing to plead guilty to the same affray charge and was given a suspended prison sentence. Now, Turnbull and Robson have been given 12-month community orders, with 150 hours each of unpaid work, after they appeared back in the dock this week.
Prosecutor, Ruth Forster, said it was around 7.10pm on October 19 that the trio chased the man into Knoops, with Turnbull following him behind the counter and assaulting him. Shocked staff managed to get out of the way and a customer managed to pull Turnbull from the male.
Mrs Forster continued: “A female also intervenes and staff managed to escort the male to a place of safety in the basement. The defendants were then verbally and physically aggressive towards a male member of public and can be seen to goad him.
“Robson then pushes Turnbull into the member of public and he strikes Turnbull to get him away, which causes him to fall to the floor. Robson then picks up a can and throws it at the member of public. He managed to duck but the can hit a wall, causing a dent, which needed to be replastered.”
The court heard that Robson, Turnbull and their accomplice continued to remonstrate with the member of public before running out the cafe and fleeing the scene. They were located by police nearby a short while later.
In a statement, a female member of staff said: “I was so scared because of the altercation that I was unable to come into work the following day and I still felt fearful a few days later, so my shift was changed so that I was not at work when it was dark outside.”
The court was told that Turnbull had eight offences on his record but Robson had no previous convictions. Mark Styles, defending Turnbull, said he had suffered a traumatic childhood.
Mr Styles added: “He’s got an horrendously traumatic background. He’s got other needs that need to be addressed by professionals. He wishes, through me, to apologise for his behaviour.”
Ben Hurst, defending Robson, said he was also remorseful. Mr Hurst told the court: “Mr Robson is disgusted by his actions and wishes to apologise.
“He can see how scared staff and members of the public were. He saw his friends involved in this altercation and he’s run in an acted totally inappropriately.”
As well as the community orders, Robson must also pay £200 compensation.
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