A South London thug turned white and vomited as he learned he would avoid prison for grabbing a pregnant woman’s throat in street fight with his brother. Fabian Bennett, 35, could be heard retching in the stairway to the cells Inner London Crown Court as he briefly excused himself from the dock on Monday morning (August 18). In better spirits after the hearing, Bennett danced outside the court.
Bennett and his brother Dean Williams-Gillett, a 34-year-old convicted drug dealer, were convicted of multiple assaults and criminal damage offences after savagely attacking a family and smashing their cars with a baseball bat in Southwark in June 2024. Williams-Gilllet drunkenly started a confrontation, then got Bennett involved by making false accusations against the victims.
Both men had their sentences suspended after Judge Vanessa Baraitser considered the bursting prison population and an assessment by the Probation Service that found both defendants were unlikely to reoffend if they took up the opportunity to do self-help workshops. Both must pay compensation to their victims and attend rehabilitation days instead.
During the trial, jurors heard Ben Ryan was taking his dad Andrew Ryan home in his green Hyundai, alongside his partner Destiny French, who was eight-months pregnant. When Ben parked outside and took his dad Andrew up the stairs to his flat, Williams-Gillett appeared drunk outside and took offence to Andrew shouting goodbye to his family from his balcony.
Feeling threatened Ben, got back in his car, but Williams-Gillett reached through the window and took his car keys. When Destiny asked for the keys back, Williams-Gillett tried to punch her. By now Andrew, 50, had come back down the stairs and tried to pull Williams-Gillett away from Destiny, triggering a brutal assault.
“Your response to that was to launch a violent attack on him. To stab him repeatedly to his face, so hard the keys were bent out of shape from the impact,” said Judge Baraitser.
Unable to start the car, Ben phoned his cousin Dean Maguire for help, while Williams-Gillett’s brother Fabian Bennett also arrived carrying a metal baseball bat. Bennett immediately set to work on Andrew Ryan with the baseball bat, hitting his legs, ribs, and body. Williams-Gillett also joined in the beating, kicking Andrew and using the baseball bat.
Bennett then turned to Destiny, grabbed her by the throat, and bent her backwards over a fence while goading her partner Ben Ryan ‘using her as bait’. When Dean arrived in his Citroen, Ben and Destiny got in the car while Williams-Gillett used the bat to smash the windows, including where a child was sitting.
Dean was punched in the face, but Ben managed to drive everyone away leaving his Hyundai behind. When he came back to get the car, the doors had been broken and Destiny’s purse containing £350 in cash and her Monzo card was stolen.
‘This was a nasty attack’
After a trial, Bennett was convicted of two ABH offences in relation to Destiny and Andrew, while Williams-Gillett was convicted of ABH, assault by beating, two counts of criminal damage, and theft, in relation to Andrew, the damaged cars, and the stolen purse.
“This assault was clearly persistent, repeatedly stabbing his face and returning with your brother to hit him with a baseball bat,” said the judge.
“This was a nasty attack by both you and your brother against a man of some age with some disabilities, with a car key and baseball bat near his son and and grandson. There’s no explanation for this other than your wholly misguided belief they were responsible for an earlier incident.”
Williams-Gillett was jailed for three years at Woolwich Crown Court in 2013 over drug dealing offences, and also has previous for batteries, a public order offence, and an assault on an emergency worker. Bennett had no relevant previous offending. Bennett has always argued he joined the ruckus under false pretences, after Williams-Gillett claimed he had been assaulted and his home attacked.
Williams-Gillett was sentenced to 18 months suspended for 20 months with 25 days rehabilitation activity requirement. He must also pay £1,700 in compensation. Bennett got 12 months suspended for 18 months with 25 days rehabilitation activity requirement. He must pay £500 compensation.
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