A cab driver from Sutton has escaped jail for his part in a mass brawl between warring Chelsea and Spurs football hooligans.

Stephen Bowden, 46, joined a pitched battle outside Stamford Bridge after a dramatic FA Cup tie between the sides in March last year.

Drinkers at an affluent Parsons Green pub ran for cover as up to 100 fans clashed with pool cues, broken bottles and knives.

There were more than 30 arrests but only Bowden and Steven Davidson, of Loughton, were convicted of violent disorder.

Judge Deva Pillay, sitting at Southwark Crown Court today, sentenced the men to 15 weeks in prison, suspended for two years.

He told them: "A very serious and violent disorder occurred in the vicinity of the White Horse public house. At its height, it was said that some 80 to 100 men were involved in fighting.

”At some stages in this disorder, the police were dangerously outnumbered and had very great difficulty in restoring order. And, out of the subsequent court proceedings, you two are the only ones who fall to be sentenced in relation to it.

”You were both, by the verdict of the jury, although individually and separately, found to have been complicit in that instant.”

Bowden, of Tonfield Road, was also given a four-year football disqualification order and ordered to do 200 hours' unpaid community work.

Detective Sergeant Paul Mitchell, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “The level of violence used on the night was staggering.

"Several of the combatants were taken to hospital with stab wounds and head injuries and we were lucky not to be dealing with a murder inquiry.

"Innocent members of the public were left in a state of shock and it was extremely fortunate that none of them were injured."

Watch CCTV of the brawl and aftermath