A best man at a Lampeter wedding has been found guilty of attacking his brother’s bride and three members of her family during a fracas at the wedding reception.
Tomos Rhydian Wilson, 29, had been best man at his brother Steffan’s wedding to Erin Mason-George on 27 July and ended up charged with assaulting Ms Mason-George, her two sisters, her mother, and a member of staff at the Falcondale Hotel.
Wilson had denied all the charges, claiming that members of the bride’s family had threatened and assaulted him, but District Judge Gwyn Jones found Wilson, who was working as a prison officer at the time, guilty of the five charges of assault as well as two charges of criminal damage.
District Judge Jones said that, while none of the Mason-George family suffered long-lasting injuries, the "thoughts and bad memories of what should have been a happy event will be there for some time".
Prosecutor Kevin Challinor said Wilson had grabbed the bride’s wedding dress and pulled her down a flight of stairs after he became aggressive when Erin Mason-George and her family were helping his brother Steffan up to bed as he was drunk.
While they tried to help Steffan upstairs, Wilson started hurling abuse at the Mason-George family and said his brother should never have married Ms Mason-George and that he was “no longer a Wilson”, the court was told.
He said Wilson grabbed Cally Mason-George by the throat and pushed her up against a wall and pushed Dion Mason-George and the bride’s mother Linda Mason-George during the row.
Wilson had also grabbed Matthew Jones, a manager at the Falcondale, and pinned him up against a wall, ripping his shirt, as well as damaging glass panels in a door at the venue, the trial heard.
Wilson denied assault, claiming that Erin Mason-George had slapped his brother and had tried to assault him, before he was threatened by Cally Mason-George and was aggressively confronted by Linda Mason-George.
He claimed that the bride had later thrown a vase and bottle at him, although District Judge Jones said that contradicted evidence of other witnesses and found that Ms Mason-George had not thrown an item at Wilson.
The judge said that he found the evidence of the Mason-George family "consistent and credible", and he believed that the amount of alcohol that Wilson, who now lives in Bridgend, had drunk had led to him being aggressive and affected his memory of events.
He said Wilson had a problem with the Mason-George family and that the amount of alcohol he had drunk had caused him to act on that as he "disagreed" with the wedding.
Wilson was made subject to a community order for 12 months and will have to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work.
He was ordered to pay compensation of £250 each to Erin and Cally Mason-George, as well as £100 each to Dion and Linda Mason-George and Mr Jones.
Costs of £960 and a victim surcharge of £90 were imposed.