When Jaydon and Brandon Brown walked into a Walthamstow pub during a family feud, they started a fight that ended badly. Jaydon, 23, left The Duke on Wood Street with a stab wound to his throat, ending up in the same hospital as his victims. Brandon, 25, ran away but was free for only 11 more days.
Earlier that day, the Dyer family had been at a funeral for their friend, Matthew Hughes, with his partner Tia Jackson, who is Jaydon and Brandon’s aunt. Something at the funeral upset Tia, and her anger followed them to the pub. On a quiet February evening in 2023, Tia made a call that led to chaos. Jaydon and Brandon, wearing balaclavas and armed with machetes, went to The Duke.
CCTV showed them talking to someone in a parked car before going inside. Witnesses saw Tia yelling on the phone before the brothers entered, one in a North Face jacket and the other in a Trap Star jacket. They immediately attacked their target, who was playing pool. Brandon and Jaydon, with 20-inch knives, launched a savage attack, forcing Lawrence Dyer to defend himself with a pool cue.
The fight escalated as the cue broke and pool balls flew. Sanchez and Reuben Dyer joined in. Lawrence was stabbed in the thigh, and Sanchez in the arm. Reuben then stabbed Jaydon in the neck, an act caught on camera. Reuben was later charged with attempted murder, but the charge was dropped. The prosecutor explained that Reuben’s actions were drastic but necessary to defend others.
Lawrence collapsed inside The Duke, tended to by his wife, Harriet. Jaydon staggered outside, leaving a trail of blood, and ended up at a nearby market. Brandon handed a knife to a friend. Paramedics found the Dyer brothers injured on the pub floor. Police followed the blood trail to find two machetes and a sheath, one with Brandon’s DNA.
Jaydon, in the hospital, and Brandon, hiding nearby, were both arrested and charged with attempted murder. Jaydon admitted wounding the younger Dyer brothers but denied wanting to kill Lawrence. Brandon claimed he wasn’t at the scene. Despite their defenses, the jury found them guilty.
Lawrence Dyer was later diagnosed with PTSD and had nightmares and flashbacks. Sanchez’s hand was badly damaged, affecting his daily life. Harriet Dyer described the attack as a bloodbath and praised her husband’s bravery.
The judge, recalling the events of February 13, stated that the feud did not justify the attack. The Brown brothers went to the pub intending to kill Lawrence Dyer and harm anyone defending him. Tia Jackson’s phone call directed the brothers to their target. Brandon led the attack, injuring Lawrence and Sanchez. Reuben, alerted to the fight, stabbed Jaydon in the neck. Both brothers fled, with Jaydon needing hospital care.
Judge Kelleher considered both men dangerous but did not extend their sentences. Brandon, with a previous knife attack conviction, received 25 years. Jaydon, admitting to wounding and drug offenses, got 21 years plus an additional 2 years for drug dealing, totaling 23 years. As they were sentenced, family and friends expressed their distress, while the brothers showed little emotion.
