A MOB smashed up a pub, causing mayhem a judge described as being like a scene out of the Wild West.

Garth Morgan was jailed after he led seven other men wearing hoods into the Royal Oak in the Pill area of Newport last month.

They trashed the place after stools and tables were thrown across the pub and behind the bar in front of terrified customers.

At Newport Crown Court, Rhodri Jones, prosecuting, played CCTV capturing the chaos as all hell broke loose.

Watching the footage, Judge Jeremy Jenkins referred to a picture in the pub of a cowboy scene when he said: “Looking at the photograph above the bar, it isn’t far from the truth is it?

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“It is like the Wild West.”

The court heard how Morgan had returned to the Royal Oak with a gang of men after earlier trouble involving him there.

He was asked to leave by landlady Helen Robertson before the defendant was threatened by an unidentified man brandishing a knife.

This proved to be the flashpoint for the pandemonium that followed.

Morgan, 28, of no fixed abode, Newport, pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

Mr Jones said the defendant had 19 previous convictions for 34 offences which included drugs matters and public disorder.

Ben Waters, mitigating, told of how his client was “appalled” by his actions.

His barrister said: “The defendant had a knife brandished over his head but he wishes to apologise for the way he behaved.

"He pleaded guilty at the very first opportunity.”

Judge Jenkins told Morgan: “You went there mob-handed with others who were disguised with hoods to avoid detection.

“This was an outrageous incident during the early evening of October 20.

“There was a confrontation and the landlady Helen Robertson stood up to you and told you to leave.”

The judge added: “There were three elderly people in the bar talking and enjoying a drink.

“When the violence started, they were petrified.

“It is lucky the CCTV captures what happens.

“Chairs are picked up and thrown at the optics behind the bar and you take what looks like a bottle of vodka.

“You played a leading role in this incident.”

Morgan was jailed for 28 months and ordered to pay a surcharge following his release from prison.